Anyone who has struggled mentally knows it is often only with time and recovery that you can challenge the destructive thought patterns that once plagued you. That said, hindsight can also be a strange thing. While collecting Republic of Parenthood columns for a book, I spent time revisiting my old articles about my struggles with breastfeeding. I felt vindicated, as some of the things I wrote have since been confirmed.
This week, the largest ever qualitative study on how difficulties with breastfeeding affects mothers’ mental health has been published in Scientific Reports. More than 2,000 mothers were surveyed, with 65% reporting that difficulties with breastfeeding had affected their mental health. Feeling like “a bad mum” and “like I had failed my baby” were some of the common reasons given by participants.
