A study published in the latest edition of Archives of Women’s Health has found that instrumental births (those requiring forceps, vacuum extraction, etc.) and cesarean sections are related to a higher number of psychological difficulties after birth – ranging from lack of adjustment to motherhood to post-traumatic stress disorder. To put these conclusions into perspective,…
It is well known that pregnancy is a psychologically transforming event and that in some cases it may activate unexpected difficulties at an emotional level. It is also known that stress, anxiety and depression may impact the baby´s development, elevate the risk of preterm birth and of mental health issues in the postpartum. Not much…
According to some sources, when a woman in Sparta (Ancient Greece) hadn’t gone into labour after nine months, other women would go to her house to berate her almost violently. They would hurl all the grievances in her face that they had kept to themselves during the pregnancy and the heated exchange usually triggered the…
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes a “positive childbirth experience” as a significant end point for all women undergoing labor. It defines a positive childbirth experience as one that fulfils or exceeds a woman’s prior personal and sociocultural beliefs and expectations, including giving birth to a healthy baby in a clinically and psychologically safe environment…
Brains of mothers and their babies synchronize more easily when mother is happy, according to a new study from Cambridge University. Researchers discovered that the brains of a mother and her infant form a megaweb where brainwaves align, which permits better connection and empathy. But the level of connectivity is dependent on mother´s emotional state.…
A recent study from the University of Louisiana (summarized below) has discovered that some mothers with postpartum depression have an “altered expression of oxytocin receptors”. Oxytocin is the hormone of love, human connection and wellbeing; it is produced at high levels during birth and breastfeeding and it is intimately involved in the mother-infant bond, as…
By Ibone Olza, MD PhD. Psyquiatrist. Associate Professor at Universidad de Alcalá. Director of the European Perinatal Mental Health Institute Breastfeeding today seems to be more difficult than mothers imagine or expect. In a North American study, of 1500 mothers who expressed their desire to exclusively breastfeed, only 39% were managing to do so at two…
By Ibone Olza, MD, PhD, Perinatal Psychiatrist. Translated by Peter Hicks. At the beginning of this year, three months after giving birth to her second child, Aurora fell to the ground from a fourth-floor balcony in the middle of an episode of puerperal psychosis.This complex disease had beaten her. It was not the first time…
By Lynne McIntyre “Bienvenido a España!” is a message that everyone sees when they first arrive in this, my adopted country. For the tourist, business traveler or study-abroad student, this message is relatively uncomplicated: Enjoy your time here, before returning to “real life”. For me, an expatriate American who moved to Spain earlier this year,…
