Breastfeeding is a natural biological process. It also has a psychological aspect to it. Breastfeeding and mental health have a link that affects the mother and child’s mental balance.
The beautiful process of a mother nursing her child and feeding her infant her own breast milk is a major step in the mother-child relationship. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) specifically recommends that children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives to ensure the child’s overall growth and development.
Breastfeeding has a lot to do with the physical health of the mother, but breastfeeding and mental health should not be ignored, and is just as important. We’ll be examining both in this blog.
Physical Benefits of Breastfeeding for Child
The natural process of breastfeeding has its own benefits. For children, breastfeeding reduces the chances of obesity, diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma and other infections as they grow.
A mother’s milk contains all the nutrients required for the development of the child. It also changes according to the nutritional needs of the child. These nutrients may not be present in formula.
The colostrum produced by the mother is also known as liquid gold. It has the right amount of protein and sugar to prepare the infant’s digestive system for the next batch of milk. On the contrary, milk powder or outside milk is too heavy for the infant to digest. Breastmilk is also a source of passing on the mother’s antibodies to the infant to strengthen the immune system.
Since breast milk is a definite provision, the infant’s brain and body gets conditioned to take in the amount of milk currently required to satisfy hunger. This helps avoid excess intake. Therefore breastfeeding helps regulate the child’s body weight and prevents childhood obesity.
Physical Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mother
As for the mothers, breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and decreases the chances of developing postpartum depression.
Breastfeeding has also helped many women lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. Lactating mothers burn fat faster as compared to non-lactating mothers. Along with that, the contraction of the uterus to its original size is observed to occur faster in lactating mothers.
History of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW)
WBW: What, When, Where, Why and Who
World Breastfeeding Beek was first celebrated by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF in 1992. It was an initiative to protect their physical health and promote wellness with a focus on breastfeeding and mental health, as well. Currently, close to 170 countries observe breastfeeding week.
Themes for Breastfeeding Week
Each year, a new theme is launched. The previous themes included the baby friendly hospital initiative, support for working mothers, nutrition, healthy mother healthy babies and others.The themes may also incorporate the topic of breastfeeding and mental health.
How it’s Celebrated
There are many ways to observe the week starting with learning and sharing the benefits of breastfeeding, educating moms about breastfeeding and mental health, sharing personal experiences, and encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their infants.
WABA Initiative for 2022
In 2022, the theme ‘Step up For breastfeeding – Educate and Support’ focuses on awareness around survival, wellbeing, breastfeeding and mental health, and its benefits.
WABA has a social media toolkit to spread awareness and educate people about breastfeeding basics and breastfeeding and mental health, across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Psychological Importance of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding and mental health have an effect on each other – which we will be discussing below.
Mother – Child Bonding:
The first feeding plays a major role in formation of the mother and child bond. It involves skin to skin contact, cuddling, body warmth and body fragrance. All of which are known to strengthen bonds. As the feeding sessions carry on smoothly, it provides the mother satisfaction that she is capable of satisfying her baby – a significant mood-booster in relation to breastfeeding and mental health.
According to experts, the close relationship between mother and child reduces chances of personality problems, behavioral and social issues as the child grows. So breastfeeding and mental health impacts not just the mother, but the child as well.
The infant can sense the mother’s ongoing emotions. Therefore, if the mother is anxious or in a depressive state, the child senses it through contact. Which indirectly impacts the child’s physical as well as mental health.
A study published by American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that breastfeeding develops a maternal sensitivity in all mothers, which is why there is a strong relation between breastfeeding and mental health. Maternal sensitivity is the mother’s ability to be emotionally available for her child, understanding his needs at a given moment and calming the infant. This sensitivity lasts beyond the breastfeeding period and toddler years going well into the child’s adolescence.
A sudden shift in environment is always disturbing – so imagine how breastfeeding and mental health are impacted postpartum, for the new mother, and the baby, for whom the shift from the mother’s womb to the outside world can be difficult to adjust to. Breastfeeding is the one act that offers the child the contact and access to the mother’s body and its provisions.
Negative Impacts of failed Breastfeeding
New mothers are under a lot of pressure in regards to breastfeeding. This is why breastfeeding and mental health get impacted if she is unable to produce enough milk.
Moms are expected to provide the baby with all the nutrition needed through their own bodies. Breastfeeding is a demand and supply process. The mother produces according to the demand of the child, but sometimes, a new mother may not be lactating enough, or at all – and hence, cannot feed her infant. This is known as disrupted lactation or lactation failure which happens due to certain biological complications.They always have an option of using milk powder or feeding their child other milk.
This is where breastfeeding and mental health get negatively impacted. When moms cannot meet the expectations of feeding their own children, they are often judged and questioned about their choice of external feeding. The speculation from doctors, relatives and others leads to the mother feeling guilty about her shortcomings.
The mother then feels insecure of her own body sometimes to the extent that she begins disliking her own body. Breastfeeding and mental health issues can run deep and there have been cases when a non-lactating mother comes up to a mental health professional with body image issues, lack of self-esteem and high level of self doubt.
These self-related issues have a higher tendency to give way to anxiety and depression.
Breastfeeding and Mother’s Mental Health
Breastfeeding does cause physical changes to a mother’s body and new moms are given nutrient-dense foods to keep up with her new physical health requirements. However, breastfeeding and mother’s mental health requires as much attention, since several hormonal changes are taking place postpartum.
Mother’s hormones during breastfeeding:
During lactation, the female body produces prolactin which in turn reduces the luteinizing hormone (LH), the hormone responsible for the release of the egg during ovulation.
During the duration of pregnancy, estrogen and progesterone levels are high and they suppress the production of prolactin. But within the next three days post delivery, the levels of estrogen and progesterone drop drastically giving a rise to the levels of prolactin. This is how breastfeeding and mother’s mental health are linked: hormones.
The quick changes in hormones greatly impact the mothers physiological and psychological state. Another observation during breastfeeding was that after feeding, the mother’s levels of oxytocin increased. Oxytocin affects one’s social cognition and social behavior hence, the mothers have a more positive perception of people and situations.
Many women are prone to postpartum depression. Breastfeeding their baby increases their happy hormones which reduces the possibilities of postpartum depression. Although, cases have been reported where the mother has postpartum depression and refuses to feed it or even accept the baby. This is another clear indicator that we must not ignore breastfeeding and mental health.
Breastfeeding and Infant’s Mental Health
During a feeding session, some change is observed in the child’s electroencephalogram (EEG).
This response is the result of the activation of hunger and satisfaction mechanisms while the child is latched on. These mechanisms include the functioning of the hypothalamic system, limbic system and other brain stems which regulate the sleep-wake cycle and maintain attention and alertness.
The same EEG when done during a bottle feeding session gives a similar but reduced response. Hence proving that nursing has a higher impact on the child’s brain activity.
Studies have shown that breastfeeding the child ensures a higher level of IQ. At the same time, the skin to skin touch, the eye contact during nursing, the warmth of the mother’s skin and her body fragrance provide the child a sense of security which has a positive effect on their emotional development as well as attachment style.
Multiple studies have proven that a baby begins recognizing the mother’s face and body odor within the first few days after birth. Their enhanced sense of smell assist them to identify their mother specifically based on the odor of the breast milk.
Research done by Patrick Leung, Amy Yang and Jianghong Liu suggests that breastfeeding improves the infant’s neurodevelopment, especially cognitive functioning and language development. (Another way in which breastfeeding and mental health of the infant is connected.)
The researchers also concluded that a breastfed child has reduced chances of acquiring internal disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Research by Brown University suggests that breastfeeding ensures a boost in the infant’s growth and development by 20 to 30 percent. Breastfed children above the age of 2 have better language skills, motor control and visual perception.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the physiological needs of food, water, warmth and rest are being met by the mother during feeding. The comfort of the mothers touch and affection through her care fulfills the infant’s safety needs as well. The next requirement being love and belonging is provided by the mother inevitably. Hence the child’s basic needs are fulfilled through his primary contact itself which provides him a head start with development and achievements.
Lactation Counselling
Breastfeeding and mental health are two sides of a coin since they impact each other and the overall wellbeing of mother and child. So in cases where the mother struggles to lactate, counseling may help.
What is lactation counselling?
Breastfeeding is a natural process but nursing is not easy for all mothers. Some may feel that a process like this will not need an exclusive consultant. On the contrary, new mothers face various barriers at the initial stages of breastfeeding. To overcome those barriers, consulting a professional, for instance a lactation counselor, is always beneficial.
Qualification of lactation counsellors:
Lactation counselors are certified professionals who assist the mother deal with issues like sore nipples, low or no milk supply, infants refusal to latch on and others. They help you find a breastfeeding method that best fits you and your child. In many cases lactation counselors also help new mothers to cope with the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Who gives lactation counselling:
The initial guidance regarding breastfeeding is generally provided by midwives, nurses, physicians, gynecologists or obstetricians. But, before raising concerns regarding breastfeeding, make sure your consultant has an additional certification through International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBCLE).
When is lactation counselling given?
In the days right after the delivery, while the mother is still in the hospital, a lactation counselor may visit as standard practice or a visit can be requested by the family. Usually it is the nurses who assist with the first feeding. It may happen that the feedings in the hospital go well but once home, problems arise. In such a case, there is no need to panic or question yourself. A simple home visit by a lactation counselor is likely to solve the problem.
Breastfeeding and Mental Health: Conclusion
As read above, the process of breastfeeding is highly recommended by health professionals. It has its physical, intellectual and psychological benefits. Although, any mother’s lack of ability to breastfeed has an adverse effect on her physical and mental health.
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) has taken up the initiative of spreading awareness and educating people about breastfeeding. For this purpose they observe world breastfeeding week all over the globe, in around 170 countries.
Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with Ananda
Do you know a new mom, or are you a new mom? This year,prioritize breastfeeding and mental health with us. Ananda is offering a FREE 45 mins session to all new mothers between August 1st to August 7th, 2022. Share this with someone you know who you can use it!
