Does bottle feeding induce mourning in a new mother?
An intriguing new theory is being proposed about the effects of bottle feeding on the maternal psyche. It goes like this. University of Albany evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup and his colleagues hypothesize that when the act of giving birth is not followed by suckling an infant, a mother’s body receives the message that her baby has died. The hormonal and chemical changes that occur in her body as her milk dries up send the message to her brain that her baby has died, triggering a mourning response in the new mother.
This theory, which was published in an article in Medical Hypothesis, provides an intriguing explanation for why some research has shown a higher incidence of post partum depression among bottle feeding mothers.
