Is Breastfeeding a Contributing Factor to PPD?

Question

breastfeeding a Contributing Factor to PPD?" /> 
Do you think breastfeeding contributes to or is the reason why some women experience postpartum depression? Feel free to leave experiences/ opinions down below. 
Personally I suffered from postpartum depression and I strictly breastfed and pumped even while in school. I never thought that could’ve caused it or contributed to it until I read about other women’s experiences and theories.

Answer

Breastfeeding is actually shown to decrease the risk of PPD

Answer

I think it CAN be a factor. I hated it and it made me really upset. I felt trapped and like I was being violated.

Answer

For me YES it was. The moment I took that away life was much better for all of us.

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I think it really depends on the person 🤷 if a woman is struggling and not enjoying it at all then maybe they could say that it did make their ppd worse. For others it may make them happy to be able to.

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I think it depends on the person. I had no PPD with my son, fully formula fed. And with my daughter, EBF, I did. So I am choosing not to BF again.

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I think breastfeeding can cause a whole lot of stress if done exclusively and when milk production is an issue. I exclusively breastfed for 8 months and found myself stressed, drained, and moody because of how I had i wanted to do it. I’m on baby number 2 and I’m going to try to do both breast and formula. It shouldn’t be all or nothing and realizing it doesn’t make you a bad mom if you chose one or the other or both was a big part for me.
Overall, i can admit i felt a lot happier when i stopped breastfeeding which i felt made me a better mom ❤️

Answer

I wouldn't say so for me. I've had three kids, all of which I breastfed. 
My first son, I had no PPD at all. My second son, I had extremely bad PPD, which started as depression during pregnancy. My third son is only 6 days old so he's a little young for me to say for sure if I've dodged the bullet this time.

Answer

EBF has shown to reduce your risk for PPD, HOWEVER, I highly doubt their research includes all circumstances. As someone who EBF until 14 months (also pumping while working full-time) nursing puts a TON of stress on a new mom. Your hormones are already crazy, and the imbalance lasts longer with nursing. It puts a ton of pressure on only the mom and is a constant stressor so I can 100% see it being an added factor to contributing to PPD. I absolutely love my journey but I am always honest with people when they ask, it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done & is such a mental game. Mental games are not always the best idea when you’re postpartum 🥴

Answer

The only time I suffered from PPD was when I wasn't breastfeeding.

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I breastfed all three of my children but only had PPD once.

Is Breastfeeding a Contributing Factor to PPD?

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