Pregnant? What Your Therapist Should Be Asking

"A few years ago, I began noticing a pattern: clients who were six to 12 months postpartum were coming into session describing unexpected shifts in mood and anxiety. We would search through possible triggers. Then it hit me: breastfeeding might be playing a role. My clinical education hadn't prepared me to assess breastfeeding experiences at all, and I didn't see other providers asking my clients about it either."

"At the same time, I began seeing more clients struggle with the emotional impact of early breastfeeding difficulties. Research shows that for parents whose breastfeeding experiences instigate worry, fear, anger, and anxiety, there can be a considerable emotional toll. While many studies focus on how these emotions influence breastfeeding duration, what matters most in therapy is that my clients are often navigating intense, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar emotional states."

Breastfeeding intersects with hormones, attachment, psychology, and identity, producing complex effects on parental mental health. Early feeding difficulties can provoke worry, fear, anger, and anxiety that create a considerable emotional toll. Many parents experience unexpected shifts in mood and anxiety around six to 12 months postpartum, sometimes linked to changes in nursing or weaning. Clinical training often omits assessment of breastfeeding experiences, and some physicians dismiss links between feeding changes and mental health. All forms of breast milk feeding—direct nursing, expressed milk, supplementation, or varied durations—are clinically relevant and warrant assessment and supportive care.

Read at Psychology Today