Breastfeeding Protects Maternal Mental Health

Recent research shows that inflammation plays a role in the development of depression. A new journal article ties this fact in with breastfeeding’s ability to protect against depression.

[B]reastfeeding protects maternal mood by lowering stress. When stress levels are lower, the mother’s inflammatory response system will not be activated, thereby lowering her risk of depression.

Kendall-Tackett, K. “A New Paradigm for Depression in New Mothers: the Central Role of Inflammation and How Breastfeeding and Anti-Inflammatory Treatments Protect Maternal Mental Health.”  International Breastfeeding Journal. 2007, 2:6 (March 30, 2007).

How does breastfeeding lower stress?  It boosts production of the love hormone oxytocin, which promotes bonding with the baby, and the mothering hormone prolactin, which generates a feeling of well-being and relaxation.

Unfortunately, if a breastfeeding mother still happens to develop depression, she is more likely to stop breastfeeding. I can see how that happens. When I developed postpartum Graves’ Disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism), well-meaning relatives and Graves’ Disease support group members encouraged me to wean. They thought that weaning would somehow make my life easier and reduce stress on my body. I instinctively knew that would not be the case. Breastfeeding allowed me special, restful bonding time with my baby and gave me a powerful sense of nurturing my child. If that had been taken away, I would have felt cheated by the Graves’ Disease and betrayed by my body. Weaning in itself would have been a stressful event, both for me and my baby. Add in the change in my hormones and it’s clear weaning would have had a negative impact. This new research supports that conclusion.

The only caveat mentioned by the researcher is that the protective effects of breastfeeding only apply when breastfeeding is going well. Breastfeeding problems such as nipple pain can create stress. That does not, however, mean that mothers with breastfeeding difficulties should wean. It simply highlights the importance of early intervention and resolution of breastfeeding problems.

The journal article featured several interesting facts about depression, co-sleeping, exercise and breastfeeding:

• “Depression in new mothers is common in many cultures, affecting anywhere from 10% to 20% of postpartum women. In some high-risk populations, the percentage can even be as high as 40% or 50%.”

• “[S]tudies of breastfeeding mothers who are sleeping next to their babies for all or part of the night indicate that the mothers spend less time in deep sleep than mothers who are not co-sleeping. Despite significantly decreased slow wave sleep, co-sleeping mothers do not appear to report an increase in body pain. Co-sleeping may be less stressful for mothers than needing to completely wake for night time feeding. Or the higher levels of prolactin that co-sleeping mothers have may . . . decrease inflammation and pain.”

• “A study of 28 mothers who were both breast- and bottlefeeding measured mothers’ stress levels immediately before and after both types of feeding.” “The researchers found that breastfeeding decreased negative mood and bottle feeding [decreased positive] mood in the same women.”

• “Exclusive breastfeeding also increases the effectiveness of the mothers’ immune system.”

• “Another way mothers can reduce stress is to exercise, which has also been found to alleviate depression.” “[M]en and women who exercised two to three times a week experienced significantly less depression, anger, cynical distrust, and stress than men and women who exercised less frequently.”

That last point does not get stressed enough in my opinion. While I understand that depressed people may have difficulty motivating to exercise (and new mothers in particular may need help finding ways to exercise), perhaps more people with mild to moderate depression would do so if they were told of its ability to treat depression and they were counseled to view it as another form of daily “medication.” Of course medication may be appropriate too (remember the free medication and lactation drug reference as a resource for comparing the different types of anti-depressants compatible with breastfeeding). In any case, mothers should be encouraged to continue breastfeeding in light of its apparent positive effect on mental health.