Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex

On Breastfeeding, Stigma, PPD Heroes & the Real Housewives

By Katherine Stone April 12, 2011

I was on vacation last week, so I missed being able to share the latest news and info with you. Better late than never, here are a few of them …

Mammywoo on the radio silence of postpartum depression. Great post!

Babble covers dysphoric milk ejection reflex, or D-MER — when you experience depression right before or during breastfeeding only. This is a very well-written and researched piece by Heather Turgeon.

Here's a picture of me with Maria Aleman, Andrea Festa, and Melissa Gorga and Kathy Wakile of the TV show Real Housewives of New Jersey at the fundraiser last week for Postpartum Progress the nonprofit. I had a great time seeing all the women there and am so grateful to Andrea and Maria and all the women who attended for supporting our work. I can't thank them enough!!

Speaking of Real Housewives, cast member Peggy Tanous of the Real Housewives of OC revealed her experience with postpartum depression recently. Here is a good review of the story as covered by Cafe Mom's The Stir, including the fact that Peggy is against taking prescription meds for PPD.

A study from the Journal of Nervous Mental Diseasewas released on the differences between black women and white women's feeling about the stigma of depressionduring pregnancy.

Diane Sanford of Living Self-Care wrote a lovely piece on her heroes in the PPD fight, in which I'm very honored to be included. She wants to know who your heroes are, so hop on over there and tell her.

April 12, 2011 10:02 am Filed Under: Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex

More Recognition for Depression Around Breastfeeding (D-Mer)

By Katherine Stone February 11, 2011

I have written a few times in the past about Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex, also known as D-Mer for short. It was nice to see Babble doing a D-Mer story today, which I found thanks to a tweet from Catherine at Her Bad Mother. I'm sure this will help more mothers who've experienced this to understand what may be happening to them. I've talked to more than a few who were really confused about the difficult feelings they were having as they began to breastfeed. People who have it don't need to stop if they don't want to. (Of course, if you do want to, that's perfectly okay too.) Knowing they have it, though, can help them understand why they feel so wierd or awful every time they start to breastfeed. Thankfully, as I've been told, those feelings are only temporary and go away somewhat quickly.

The following post I wrote in 2009 lists a few more resources on experiencing depression, sadness or a hollow feeling right before breastfeeding. Check them out if you are looking for support in this area: For Moms Who Feel Bad Before Breastfeeding, This May Be Why

Let me know if you had this and if the story accurately on Babble reflects what you went through.

February 11, 2011 11:10 am Filed Under: Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex

Bad Feelings During Breastfeeding: D-MER

By Katherine Stone September 13, 2010

Some mothers have a little known syndrome called Dysphoric Milk-Ejection Reflex, or D-Mer. It is the experience of sad or otherwise disturbing feelings just prior to or in the first minute or so of breastfeeingyour baby.

I rarely come upon a personal story of D-MER, but I saw this one thismorning from A is for Akari and I wanted to share it so that those of you who have this can see what others in your situation have experienced. It's always good to know you're not the only one out there!

Photo credit: © Vladislav Gansovsky – Fotolia

September 13, 2010 9:24 am Filed Under: Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex

For Moms Who Feel Bad Before Breastfeeding, This May Be Why

By Katherine Stone June 17, 2009

I've had several Postpartum Progress readers contact me in the last few months about the topic of breastfeeding-related feelings ofdepression. These moms feel just fine all the time EXCEPT right when they're about to breastfeed or are breastfeeding. This is a condition I must admit I hadn't heard of, but after a preponderance of emails about it, I thought I should look into it more. It doesn't surprise me that women who have this experience would worry that it is related to postpartum depression.

Kathleen Kendall-Tackett was kind enough to point me in the right direction by telling me about Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex, also called D-MER. According to D-MER.org, Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex is a newly recognized condition affecting lactating women which causes a surge of negative emotions to occur just before milk release. These emotions usually don't last more than a few minutes. They explain that D-MER is not postpartum depression, nor is it a postpartum mood disorder.

Moms with D-MERoften experience a hollow feeling or emotional churning in the stomach, and a feeling of dread, guilt, anxiety or anger prior to letdown. They state that a key experience of D-MER is that the mom feels fine except right before her milk starts to flow, with the feeling lasting only as much as 2 minutes, though some moms with closely spaced letdowns may have these feelings throughout the nursing period.

For more stories on D-MER, click the link. Also, here are some resources for those of who you experience this: