Read this post in the context of the hypersexualization of girls, early puberty (and other problems), a very brief childhood (and getting briefer) and a generalized discontent with one´s image in adolescence, which hurts self-esteem and makes them vulnerable. In the past years, companies have put a new style of dolls in the market, with…
The neurobiology of birth has one purpose: to create a caring bond between the mother and her infant. Nature does not only seek to secure the survival of the young human, but to gain maximum emotional, social and physical fitness. If there is something all new parents find out it is that their infant´s heads…
by Ibone Olza, MD, infant psychiatrist. Last week Arno Stern invited me to his workshop in Paris: the Closlieu. Since I left there at 11 pm and began to stroll along the Montparnasse under the drizzling rain, my brain has been searching for the words to write this blog entry. It is not simple. Perhaps…
By Ibone Olza, MD, PhD, perinatal psychiatrist Babies feel, listen, perceive, know, understand, are moved, express, communicate. Babies love. They give. Give smiles, caresses, gazes, babbles. They gift us. They move us. They fill us. Babies are a transforming presence for those that love, care, and live with them. However, the modern world denies…
By Esther Ramírez Matos, perinatal psychologist and family therapist My body spoke to me again, last night while I was calmly reading a novel about maternity. As a traumatic birth was described, after which mother and infant were separated, I felt an intense pain in my pelvic area; I had not been so uncomfortable in…
The quality of mother–child interactions is central in the social and emotional development of the child. It is the process by which infants are initiated into the social world. But interactions need time and space – they requiere mother and infant to be together. A recent study by Plotka, R. & Busch-Rossnagel…
We are proud to announce that the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) has awarded our Breastfeeding and Mental Health Online Training course with 57 CERPs. Breastfeeding is a fundamental part of the psychological and health processes inherent to maternity, and is intimately tied to maternal and infant physical and emotional wellbeing, as well…
“There are no feet too small to leave prints on this earth.” The child that dies during the perinatal stage: lifelong impact on the family Although there has traditionally been silence in our society about children who die at the beginning of life, this silence has been unravelling. Scientific papers and worldly magazines, support groups…
Use of opioids during pregnancy can result in a drug withdrawal syndrome in newborns called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). A recent analysis of the extent, context, and costs of NAS shows that it is rising worldwide. In the United States, substance use among pregnant and postpartum women is a public health issue. An estimated one…
Nest to protect and wings to fly By Ana González Uriarte, infant psychiatrist and family therapist I just found this text that I wrote 14 years ago… Now that my youngest son has “flown” on his first journey to study abroad for this whole school year and that my 21 year old also begins…
