As past studies (Malphurs et al., 1996) have reported that depressed mothers
demonstrate more negative/intrusive touch behaviors toward their infants, it
is informative that breastfeeding, depressed mothers exhibited more nurturing
touch compared to depressed mothers who formula fed. It appears that breastfeeding
and maternal emotional status may jointly contribute to the quality
of nurturing touch provided by mothers to their infants. In addition, in
our previous work (Jones et al., 2004) we have demonstrated that infants
of depressed mothers who are breastfed also showed more optimal EEG
patterns, patterns that suggest greater approach motivation and interactive
attunement with their environments. That breastfeeding, nurturing touch, and
EEG patterns indicative of approach-type motivational styles occur in combination
is not surprising, even for depressed mother-infant dyads, as all these
processes are adaptive and provide the opportunity for experiencing positive
interactive experiences.