Researchers said this past Wednesday, that how you cradle your baby might indicate how stressed and prone to post partum depression you are. Apparently mothers who cradle with their right hands are more likely to become depressed, feel stress or otherwise exhibit anxiety symptoms. The conclusion seems to be the same irregardless of whether or not the women are right or left handed.
I have to point out first though they only surveyed 76 women. While technically this qualifies as ‘statistically significant’, I frankly won’t believe it until I see the study repeated with more women and also a control group for left handed women. (In other words do left handed women get more stressed if they hold their babies in their left hands or their right hands?) The conclusion in the study did say that it doesn’t matter, but with a sample of 76 you’d have to wonder how many lefties they really tested. . . Despite my doubts about this claim–I do have a theory on why this might be true.
The Changes of New Motherhood
I have talked to many a new mother who feels like having a new baby is so hard. No longer is her time her time and we all frequently live for that one to two hours in the afternoon while baby is sleeping to either catch up on our own sleep or get something done. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t matter how many people told me to ‘just leave the house’. It still bothers me when stuff didn’t get done.
Over time however, I learned how to hold a newborn and get other things done. But of course, I’m right handed so baby was always carried in my left hand. When baby got to big to function this way, I started using a sling. But getting at least one thing crossed off on my ‘to do’ list just made me feel so much better about the day.
Twins and Depression
As further ‘support’ for my theory (which it really is just a theory), I note that post partum depression is much higher in the MOM population. And if you have super twins? Almost a guarantee for some post partum depression according to statistics.
I never really struggled with long term post partum depression but I will say that after the twins were born I had this gnawing feeling of inadequacy. I couldn’t even get chicken nuggets in the microwave and on the table for lunch, let alone get anything done. It wasn’t until almost 20 months after their birth, that I really felt like a human again.
Maybe it’s just me. But I suspect that the mothers that hold their babies in their right hand are more stressed because they become acutely aware of their inability to function as well as they did before. It’s almost like the mourning of a former self combined with utter joy over the new addition. How do you cradle your baby?
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