Pressure to breastfeed made me depressed
LAUREN Marks-Clee said the pressure to breastfeed worsened her post-natal depression.
The 3 -year-old, from Sevenoaks, Kent, felt under pressure to breastfeed as soon as she attended NCT classes, which did not discuss the possibility that some women might struggle.
She sought the help of three breastfeeding experts after her son Flynn was born two years ago but none suggested an alternative. Miss Marks-Clee said: ‘My feelings of failure and not being able to do the “natural” and “best” thing, led to me retracting from my son so I didn’t have to sit with my anxiety and what was, unbeknown to me, PND (postnatal depression).’
She had therapy and found a catalyst for her depression was her breastfeeding experience. Miss Marks-Clee has set up website The Parenting Chapter to offer parents an alternative to NCT.