Changes During Pregnancy

Postpartum psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, has become the most underdiagnosed complication in the United States. It can lead to increased costs of medical care, inappropriate medical care, child abuse and neglect, discontinuation of breastfeeding, and family dysfunction and adversely affects early brain development (Earls, 2010). Over 400,000 infants are born to mothers that are depressed. One of 7 new mothers (14.5%) experience depressive episodes that impair maternal role function. An episode of major or minor depression that occurs during pregnancy or the first 12 months after birth is called perinatal or postpartum depression (Wisner, Chambers & Sit, 2006). Mothers with postpartum depression experience feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that may make it difficult for them to complete daily care activities for themselves or for others (Postpartum Depression). The six stages of postpartum are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and PTSD. These stages may affect any women regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or economic status. However only a physician can diagnose a woman with postpartum depression. It does not occur because of something a mother does or does not do, it’s a combination of physical and emotional factors. After childbirth, the levels of hormones in a woman’s body quickly drop; which may lead to chemical changes in her brain (Postpartum Depression). Unbalanced hormones may trigger mood swings.

The reason is that when estrogen levels are lower during lactation, there’s a less riskless risk of these tissues becoming cancerous. The longer the mother breastfeeds, the lower the risk of developing breast cancer. Mother’s that bottle-feed formula are exposed to higher levels of estrogen since they don’t breastfeed and areand are at higher risk of developing ovarian and uterine cancers. Furthermore breastfeeding lessens the risk of developing osteoporosis as well. theyThey also have a greater chance of developing osteoporosis than breastfeeding women and are more likely to suffer from hip fractures in the post-menopausal years.

The breasts are essentially a milk factory. Inside the breasts there are glands called lobules that are responsible for producing the milk. These glands contain branches of little sacs that hold the milk called alveoli. The lobules are positioned around ducts that carry milk to the nipple. Also, a layer of fatty tissue surrounds

24) Prior to the onset of lactation, the mammary glands are prepared for the production of milk by

Breast cancer is a popular disease that many people are afraid of. It is the growth of altered genes that create malignant tumors starting in a female or male’s breast tissue. Cancer has a reputation of being caused by hormones, but that may not always be the case. Hormones are chemicals that work as chemical messengers in the body and affect the duties of cells and tissues. The ovaries in premenopausal and postmenopausal women usually produce the hormones, like estrogen and progesterone. The hormone estrogen develops and maintains the female sex features and progesterone have to do with women 's menstrual cycle and pregnancy. In a breast cancer cell, it

You might think that a milk carton that reads, “no artificial hormones added” is hormone-free. But all milk whether raw or pasteurized, naturally contains hormones. Even in Canada, where growth hormones to stimulate milk production in dairy cows are not permitted, natural hormones are still present in milk. The reason, suggests Ganmaa Davaasambuu, a physician and a working scientist for Harvard School of Public Health, cows are milked almost 300 days per year. And for much of that time they’re pregnant. The farther along a cow is, the more hormones appear in her milk.

Giving birth comes with a wide variety of changes including physical, emotion and social. There are very high levels of sex hormones in circulation which cause increased ligament, joint and muscle laxity (Norman). Many women lose their social contacts due to upcoming life changes, must take time off work, and must stop previous hobbies (Norman). Relationship factors, hormone changes, sleep deprivation and support deeply effect a woman’s self-esteem and confidence during and after pregnancy (Norman).

A lot of mothers are not being told how wonderful breastfeeding is for their health. Whether out of inexperience or due to the impact of the artificial baby milk industry, many health care providers fail to let mothers know of the facts. As other new mothers find out about these facts, more mothers will not merely choose to breastfeed for a short period of time to provide early disease control for their baby, but will continue to breastfeed, providing the best results both for their child and for

Life for a woman is never the same after she gives birth to a child because, even before the woman goes through labor, she has experienced the effects an unborn baby has on her body; a woman, the birth giver, changes the most because she loses something that has been a part of her body for nine months. During the time right after the birth, she suffers from separation. The predominant reason for this is because, during the pregnancy, the hormonal levels of a woman are often disrupted and confused. They increase and decrease frequently, yet soon finds an equilibrium while the baby grows inside the womb. After the birth, the hormone levels are trying to balance again, after the rises and falls due to pregnancy, which causes a woman’s emotions

Breastfeeding provides many nutrients that the child needs in order to grow. Breast milk has many more nutrients to help a child’s immune system more effectively than formula milk (www.nrdc.org, 2005). It has been proven that breastfeeding can help an infant from coming in contact with diseases later on in life, helps the mother lose weight, and is also a cheaper way to feed the child (www.nrdc.org, 2005). This can be very vital information to know because this can help a lot more mothers become educated in breastfeeding their children rather than using formula. In recent findings on breastfeeding it was found that children who are breastfed longer as an infant were less likely to become obese in the future (Carling and Feldman-Winter, 2014). It was believed that breastfeeding allowed the child to discover proper eating habits due to microscopic substances in the breast milk the helped regulate metabolism, in which the child can then learn how to control the food intake as they got older (Carling and Feldman-Winter, 2014). This is very important because mothers can help prevent their child from becoming overweight or obese. It’s recommended that mother’s breastfed for more than four months, while this can be challenging between mothers who work or mothers who are not educated about breastfeeding, support groups and help are available for these mothers (Carling and

Having a baby should be one of the happiest and most important events in a woman?s life. However, although life with a new baby can be both thrilling and rewarding, it can also be a difficult and quite stressful task. Most women make the transition without great difficulty, yet some women experience considerable complexity that may manifest itself as a postpartum psychiatric disorder (O?hara, Hoffman, Philips, & Wright, 1992). Many physical and emotional changes can occur to a woman during the time of her pregnancy as well as following the birth of her child. These particular changes can leave a new mother feeling sad, anxious, afraid and

Pregnancy is usually thought of as a taxing, yet rewarding and joyful time for an expectant mother. It takes a toll on not only a mother’s body, but also on her emotional well-being. A lack of appetite, energy, and strength are not uncommon among healthy mothers, and will not call for immediate attention from a physician. Although the psychological and physiological changes a woman goes through while pregnant can present themselves as depression-like symptoms, more often, they are the result of carrying a developing child. Despite the commonality of these symptoms it is important not to overlook these symptoms should they progress. Antenatal depression (depression that occurs while pregnant) and postpartum depression (depression that occurs

A lot of these problems seen in formula feed babies are due to the fact that the particular composition of the formula doesn’t suit their digestive system. Breast milk consists of the optimum proportions of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water. It is extremely digestible for a new-born baby because the milk is naturally refined to perfectly suit the baby’s digestive system. The milk also contains growth factors such as, epidermal growth factor (EGR) and insulin-like growth factor. The epidermal growth factor works by helping to prepare the lining of the gut to absorb the nutrients from the milk consumed. Insulin-like growth factor is believed to be one of the primary factors regulating early growth and development. Breast milk also contains essential fatty acids that are not present in most formula milk products. The two essential fatty acids present in breast milk are docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonis acid. Both of these play a vital role in optimal development of the central nervous system, intellectual and visual development in babies. Furthermore, one of the most prominent advantages associated with breast feeding over formula feeding babies is that, breast milk naturally changes composition to correspond to the stage of development of the infant. For example, colostrum is the name given to the first milk produced post-delivery. It has an abundance of white cells and antibodies, it also contains a

“The Breast are considered to be in the reproductive system because they are able to produce milk during childbirth” ("Breast Pictures, Anatomy & Anatomy | Body Maps," 2005). There are many risk factors that increase a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer, but it is not yet known exactly how some of these risk factors cause cells to become cancerous. Some of the few risk factors that are included are taking

Looking at Women’s Health.gov, when breastfeeding, a hormone called oxytocin is released. Oxytocin aids in shrinking down the uterus to pre pregnancy size and it also reduces uterine bleeding after birth. Breastfeeding also lowers a woman’s risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. It can even reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and it lessens the severity of postpartum depression.