Postpartum Stress: Current Concepts and the Possible Protective Role of Breastfeeding

Groër, Maureen; Davis, Mitzi; Hemphill, Jean Croce

doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2002.tb00063.x

Cited by 75 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…A number of signaling molecules (besides CRF) are involved in the behavioral response to stress and whether CRF plays a role in reactivity to stress during lactation, still needs to be tested. The adaptive value of a suppressed response to stressors for full expression of maternal care is supported by a range of studies (Carter et al 2001;Russell et al 2001;Groer et al 2002;Walker et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Effects of daily and acute restraint stress during lactation on maternal aggression and behavior in mice

Gammie

Stevenson

2006

Stress

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A decreased reactivity to stressors during lactation might heighten the expression of maternal care (including defense of offspring) by minimizing the extent to which stress can impact maternal care. Although stressors applied during pregnancy have variable effects on maternal aggression (or defense of offspring), to date no study has examined the effects of stress applied during the postpartum period on maternal aggression. In this study, we examined the effects of both daily and acute restraint stress (30 min) applied postpartum on maternal aggression and other maternal behaviors. Daily restraint (ending 2 h before testing) did not alter any measure of maternal behavior, including nursing, licking and grooming of pups and pup retrieval, or any measure of maternal aggression. In contrast, acute stress significantly impaired total time aggressive and number of attacks, but pup retrieval was normal. c-Fos levels were significantly elevated in a number of brain regions in association with acute stress, including lateral septum (LS), caudal periaqueductal gray and medial amygdala (MeA), suggesting possible sites where stress reactivity could alter aggression. Together, the results indicate that acute restraint stress impairs maternal aggression and provide a starting point for future studies examining how stress reactivity pathways may intersect with maternal aggression pathways.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Effects of daily and acute restraint stress during lactation on maternal aggression and behavior in mice

Gammie

Stevenson

2006

Stress

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“…More specifically, to maintain interest in milk expression and enhance milk production, such a program needs to incorporate increased parental involvement in the care of their infant beginning early on in the NICU, 66 close awareness and management of potential maternal mental health, for example, depression, anxiety, 27,61,67 and availability and encouragement for frequent milk expression schedules and STS. [68][69][70] In addition, in a multi-ethnic/racial environment, it is important to remember that the differing Social Desirability trait may not provide an accurate profile of self-reported maternal psychosocial characteristics. This potentially may lead to an inaccurate measure of a mother's true emotions.…”

Section: Subjects' Compliancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic/racial diversity, maternal stress, lactation and very low birthweight infants

et al. 2007

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Objective: (1) To compare maternal characteristics and psychological stress profile among African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic mothers who delivered very low birthweight infants. (2) To investigate associations between psychosocial factors, frequency of milk expression, skin-to-skin holding (STS), and lactation performance, defined as maternal drive to express milk and milk volume.Study Design: Self-reported psychological questionnaires were given every 2 weeks after delivery over 10 weeks. Milk expression frequency, STS, and socioeconomic variables were collected.Result: Infant birthweight, education, and milk expression frequency differed between groups. Trait anxiety, depression and parental stress in a neonatal intensive care unit (PSS:NICU) were similar. African-American and Caucasian mothers reported the lowest scores in state anxiety and social desirability, respectively. Maternal drive to express milk, measured by maintenance of milk expression, correlated negatively with parental role alteration (subset of PSS:NICU) and positively with infant birthweight and STS. Milk volume correlated negatively with depression and positively with milk expression frequency and STS.Conclusion: Differences between groups were observed for certain psychosocial factors. The response bias to self-reported questionnaires between groups may not provide an accurate profile of maternal psychosocial profile. With different factors correlating with maintenance of milk expression and milk volume, lactation performance can be best enhanced with a multi-faceted intervention program, incorporating parental involvement in infant care, close awareness and management of maternal mental health, and encouragement for frequent milk expression and STS.

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“…Neither breast-milk production nor quality is adversely affected by stress or moderate malnutrition (Prentice et al, 1983;Hill et al, 2005). However, breastfeeding reduces women's physiological responsiveness to both physical and emotional stress (Altemus et al, 1995;Groer et al, 2002;Mezzacappa and Katlin, 2002), which may assist them in dealing with the difficult circumstances associated with emergencies. In addition, it may help mothers to be able to be responsive caregivers to their children (Gribble, 2006) and thus limit the emotional damage of trauma.…”

Section: The Impact Of Infant Feeding Practices On Infant Health In Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting breastfeeding in emergencies: protecting women's reproductive rights and maternal and infant health

Gribble

McGrath²,

Maclaine

et al. 2011

Disasters

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Postpartum Stress: Current Concepts and the Possible Protective Role of Breastfeeding

Cited by 75 publications

References 49 publications

Effects of daily and acute restraint stress during lactation on maternal aggression and behavior in mice

Effects of daily and acute restraint stress during lactation on maternal aggression and behavior in mice

Ethnic/racial diversity, maternal stress, lactation and very low birthweight infants

Supporting breastfeeding in emergencies: protecting women's reproductive rights and maternal and infant health

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