What to do for anxiety while breastfeeding?

Understanding Anxiety While Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is often portrayed as a natural and bonding experience between mother and child, yet for many new mothers, it can also be a source of significant anxiety. This anxiety can stem from various factors, including concerns about milk supply, the baby’s health, and the pressures of motherhood. Understanding how to manage this anxiety is crucial for both maternal well-being and successful breastfeeding.
The Impact of Anxiety on Breastfeeding
Research indicates that maternal anxiety can adversely affect breastfeeding outcomes. Anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum can disrupt mother-infant interactions, potentially leading to difficulties in establishing and maintaining breastfeeding. This disruption can manifest in various ways, such as difficulty latching, reduced milk supply, or even the development of conditions like Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER), which can cause feelings of sadness or anxiety during breastfeeding.
Strategies to Manage Anxiety
1. Seek Support: One of the most effective ways to combat anxiety is to connect with others. This can include joining breastfeeding support groups, talking to friends or family, or seeking professional help from therapists who specialize in perinatal mental health. Organizations like Postpartum Support International offer resources and directories to find local support.
2. Educate Yourself: Understanding the breastfeeding process can alleviate fears and uncertainties. Knowledge about what to expect can help mothers feel more in control. Resources from reputable organizations can provide guidance on common challenges and solutions.
3. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or yoga can help reduce anxiety levels. Taking a few moments to focus on breathing or engaging in a calming activity before breastfeeding can create a more relaxed environment for both mother and baby.
4. Communicate with Healthcare Providers: Open discussions with healthcare providers about anxiety can lead to tailored strategies for managing symptoms. Providers may suggest safe medications if necessary, emphasizing that many medications do not require stopping breastfeeding.
5. Be Gentle with Yourself: It’s essential for mothers to recognize that breastfeeding can be challenging and that it’s okay to seek help or take breaks. Setting realistic expectations and being kind to oneself can significantly reduce stress.
6. Consider Professional Help for D-MER: If feelings of sadness or anxiety during breastfeeding are severe, it may be beneficial to consult a healthcare provider about D-MER. Understanding this condition can help mothers find coping strategies and support.
Conclusion
Navigating anxiety while breastfeeding is a common struggle for many new mothers. By seeking support, educating themselves, and practicing self-care, mothers can create a more positive breastfeeding experience. It’s important to remember that they are not alone in this journey, and help is available. Embracing this phase with compassion and understanding can lead to a healthier relationship with both breastfeeding and motherhood.

Why does nursing give me anxiety?

The National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health lists the most common factors linked to nursing stress, including: Work overload. Time pressure. Lack of support.

How to stop feeling overwhelmed with breastfeeding?

Practice mindfulness by noticing how your baby’s skin feels, the sounds they are making as they nurse, any scent that you may smell, and the rise and fall of their chest as they breathe. Mindfulness is a form of stress management that you can do while breastfeeding and at other times.

How to treat anxiety while breastfeeding?

Safe medication in breastfeeding
They include, in no particular order: SSRI antidepressants e.g. sertraline, citalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine all have anti- anxiety activity. They take 4 to 6 weeks to exert full benefit. Tri-cyclic antidepressants e.g. amitriptyline, imipramine.

Why do I feel anxious when I breastfeed?

It’s a physiological (read: not mental) response to your body releasing milk, and can bring on feelings of intense sadness, despair, anxiety and more as you’re starting to nurse your baby.

Why does nursing give me so much anxiety?

One common reason for nurse anxiety is the ever-changing standards of patient care. The nursing profession is constantly changing. What was best practice yesterday may be poor practice tomorrow. As a traveling nurse, I have noticed that one facility’s basic standard of care may be foreign to another.

Is it safe to take Xanax while breastfeeding?

A safety scoring system finds alprazolam possible to use during breastfeeding. [1] Because of reports of effects in infants, including sedation, alprazolam is probably not the best benzodiazepine for repeated use during nursing, especially with a neonate or premature infant.

Do anxiety meds pass through breast milk?

From the available data, it appears that all medications, including antidepressants, antipsychotic agents, mood stabilizers, and benzodiazepines, are secreted into the breast milk. However, concentrations of these agents in breast milk vary considerably.

Can anxiety affect milk supply?

Maternal psychological distress (e.g., perceived stress, anxiety, depression) has also been linked to lactation difficulty and breastfeeding cessation.

How to reduce stress during breastfeeding?

Slow, calm breathing can help lessen the experience of discomfort as it reduces the release of stress hormones and can promote the release of oxytocin, the ‘feel good’ hormone. Focussing on breathing deeply and evenly meant that I wasn’t fixating on the less pleasant sensations of early breastfeeding.

Do breastfeeding hormones cause anxiety?

Ours is the first study to our knowledge to measure oxytocin response to the physiologic trigger of breastfeeding among mothers with lower vs. higher mood symptoms. Our findings associating lower oxytocin with higher anxiety and depression suggest that oxytocin dysregulation may contribute to perinatal mood disorders.