What do the childfree know about post-partum depression? Hm...

[_dear_mariah]

monkeypussnz wants to know if since 1/3 of new mothers in New Zealand suffer from post-partum depression could this be a form of population control 'ala Anderea Yates?'Because clearly, 1/3 of the mothers in the world are killing off their babies

Comments

[bombardiette]

Well, the question is a bit far-fetched, but not necessarily stupid...particularly in light of the fact that PPD is so widely mis-understood by those who are either not medical professionals (and even then I wonder) or who have, themselves, experienced it.

On the other hand, I did have to roll my eyes a little bit at littlequeer's assertion that eating your placenta and breast-feeding reduces the severity and prevalence of PPD in p/n women.

I very much dount the validity of that statement, particularly in the blanket form in which it was applied.

[bombardiette]

*doubt.

[_dear_mariah]

I don't know. It seems pretty stupid to assume that PTD = killing babies because of the one instance that she gave. And if she's claiming that 1/3 of new mothers suffer from it and she can only give one case of it, but is claiming it's population control, that doesn't sound too smart to me.

[midnight_d]

Broad sweeping generalizations FTW!

[starfyre_dragon]

Yes, because post partum depression totally equal post partum psychosis. You cant be depressed and not homicidal/suicidal. o_O

[into_fault]

Thank you!

[taldragon]

"the way the rise of agriculture preserved the genes that made me myopic." (in the comments)

i dont get it?

[midnight_d]

I think they're implying that having more available food for everyone increases survival rates in the "less fit" people, so they can pass on their less fit genes and create less fit offspring (in this case near sighted).

[midnight_d]

LOL too true.

[crassy]

Is it me or is this whole "child free" thing getting to be a bit too much like the pro-choice/pro-life war? I mean really, who fucking cares if you want to breed or not breed. If you don't...then don't. If you do, go right ahead. I guess I will never understand why there are people out there who have to get into everyone else's business.

[loomissimmons]

I don't tend to have children, but saying I'm "childfree" is like saying I'm right-handed. I mean...who cares?

[garpu]

All kidding aside, it does get really tiresome to be told you'll change your mind at almost-33, that doctors question your choices with healthcare, that idiots tell you you aren't a real adult or that you don't really know what love is. But the upshot of those is that you know quickly who to avoid, blow off, and get on with your life.

But why the hell do people think that they can question women's choices with their lives? Like you said, we can't win, no matter what choice we make WRT children or not. Latent remnant of the "fairer sex" bullshit?

[midnight_d]

I disagree with the first person that the woman will not have children again. What I learned in my Evolutionary Psych/Biological Origins of Behaviour classes was that part of the reason a mother kills her babies (in the rare cases it actually happens) is so that she can "save" her resources for her future children, or in some cases, they will kill the younger/newer children so that they can focus more resources on their older/pre-existing children.

It's about maximizing the success of a specific child rather than it being a crap-shoot with a number of children.