Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century with far-reaching and enduring adverse consequences for health outcomes. Over 42 million children younger than 5 years worldwide are estimated to be overweight or obese, and if current trends continue, then an estimated 70 million children will be overweight or…
#youarenotabadmother if you need help after you give birth. Motherhood requires social support. The postpartum period in the human species is designed to happen within a maternal social network. Support from other mothers helps make the experience a better one and prevents psychological distress. Let´s create those networks – let´s care for mothers. If…
The first World Maternal Mental Health Day was celebrated in 2016, and is commemorated every year in the first Wednesday of May – this year, May 6th 2020. World Maternal Mental Health Day was launched to raise awareness about mental health problems in the perinatal period, so as to encourage women to seek…
by Ibone Olza, perinatal psychiatrist Cooperate or compete. Trust or fear. Share or fight. Accompany or isolate. In the end, there are only two states: love or fear, and one is the absence of the other. The more love, less fear. The more fear, less love (in the words of Abuela Margarita). Hard choices,…
By Ana G Uriarte MD, child & adolescent psychiatrist and systemic therapist. Love is the foundation of health – this is what I felt compelled to remember today. I am not giving recommendations of “what to do” with babies, toddlers and children during these times. There are many, and many of the good, ideas…
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…
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…
Part I Part II When talking about newborns and their initial environment, it is necessary to consider the ecological impact of infant feeding practices. In 1991, an extensive review of the ecological benefits of breastfeeding was written by Andrew Radford. To summarize his findings, the simplicity, the convenience, the readiness, the total completeness, the…
Part I Restoring the original paradigm Humanization of childbirth has also changed the practices regarding newborn care. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is now recognized as the ideal care for newborns, especially premature babies, and is recommended by the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, 2003). The kangaroo…
by Ibone Olza and Sharon E. MacDonnell Originally Published in: Ecopsychology. June 2010, 2(2): 105-109. ABSTRACT How and when does the ecological unconscious develop in the human newborn? Research from the neurobiological findings of attachment theory has shown the deleterious effect of mother separation on the brain development of newborns. Innovations in newborn…
