Published Research

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Google Scholar shows any papers or studies published about D-MER.

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The D-MER blog posts twice a month with updates that includes informative content as well as stories from other mothers.

Dysphoric milk ejection reflex (D-MER) results in waves of negative emotions that last from shortly before initial milk ejection until baby starts to feed vigorously. Symptoms may decrease by 3 months or they may continue throughout the breastfeeding period. This report is a case study of an Australian mother who experienced D-MER with her fourth child.

Sue Cox

Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER) is an abrupt emotional “drop” that occurs in some women just before milk release and continues for not more than a few minutes. The brief negative feelings range in severity from wistfulness to self-loathing, and appear to have a physiological cause. The authors suggest that an abrupt drop in dopamine may occur when milk release is triggered, resulting in a real or relative brief dopamine deficit for affected women. Clinicians can support women with D-MER in several ways; often, simply knowing that it is a recognized phenomenon makes the condition tolerable. Further study is needed.

Heise and Wiessinger

Maternal experiences of embodied emotional sensations during breastfeeding: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Marcelina Watkinson

     D-MER, which can cause early cessation of breastfeeding, may also be associated with the mother’s mental health problems. Raising awareness about D-MER and equipping health professionals on this subject are important in the continuity of breastfeeding. 

     Aybuke Kacır 

D-MER prevalence may be lower than previously reported. Patients with likely D-MER appear to have lower breastfeeding self-efficacy and higher depression scores. Those with preexisting mood disorders may be at higher risk of experiencing D-MER. 

     Lina Nguyen 

We urge the authorities to increase the evidence-based research studies available, advocating better screening, diagnostic criteria, and treatment for D-MER. We are hopeful that further tests and studies on this phenomenon can help bring a medical breakthrough for the effective diagnosis and treatment of D-MER. 

Marium Ahmed 

The primary aim of this case report is to provide a comprehensive psychological understanding of D-MER, emphasizing aspects of attachment, the transition into motherhood, and the sociocultural sexualization of the female body. We also offer an overview of the psychotherapeutic journey, highlighting key insights and progress achieved over a span of six months.

Reem Deif

Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex is linked to maternal psychological distress and breastfeeding discontinuation. Priority areas for future research include biological origins and interventions aimed at prevention, symptom control, and greater awareness of the condition on a more international scope. 

Stephanie Lynn Herr 

Feelings of aversion toward breastfeeding is also quoted in distinction to Dysphoric‐Milk Ejection Reflex, which is a condition that is categorised by distinctly dysphoric feelings ‘only during milk releases’. There are also blog posts and online articles on the phenomenon. 

Zainab M. Yate 

Lori Jill Isenstadt, IBCLC is a huge breastfeeding supporter.  She has spent much  of her adult life working in the maternal health field. Once she became turned on to birth and became a childbirth educator, there was no stopping her love of working with families during their childbearing years.  Lori became a Birth doula and a Postpartum doula and soon became a lactation consultant.  She has been helping moms and babies with breastfeeding for over 25 years.  Lori founded her private practice, All About Breastfeeding where she meets with moms one on one to help solve their breastfeeding challenges.  She is an international speaker, book author and the host of the  popular itunes podcast, All About Breastfeeding, the place where the girls hang out.  You can reach Lori by email at: aabreastfeeding@hotmail.com or contact her via her website:  allaboutbreastfeeding.biz/contact

Alyssa Schnell, has been helping parents and babies with breastfeeding since 2002 and has been accredited as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) since 2009.  Alyssa is a conference speaker and author of Breastfeeding Without Birthing:  A Breastfeeding Guide for Mothers Through Adoption, Surrogacy, and Other Special Circumstances.  She has also been featured in the Journal of Human Lactation, the Journal of Clinical Lactation, The Washington Post, Adoptive Families magazine, and New Beginnings magazine.  Alyssa is the proud mother of three breastfed children, two by birth and one by adoption.  She enjoys reading, sewing, yoga, and theater.  Alyssa lives in St. Louis.

Marie Biancuzzo started helping mothers, babies and families to succeed at breastfeeding more than thirty years ago. Fondly remembered for decades by mothers, she earned their trust by helping them to cut through the misinformation, bust the myths, and believe in themselves. Among her peers, Marie has received international recognition as a clinical expert, book author, and national-level change agent. She was a founding member of the United States Breastfeeding Committee, the past president of Baby-Friendly USA, and the founding editor of Nursing for Women’s Health.

Marie has both depth and breadth of expertise from having worked in community and teaching hospitals, with mothers and health care providers, in nearly all subspecialties of maternal infant health. From the mother’s hospital bedside to the university classroom, Marie has honed her skills at helping people be good consumers of health care information.

A native of the Rochester, New York area, Marie now resides in the Washington DC area but crisscrosses the country as Director of Breastfeeding Outlook, the education company she founded in 1998. Through her courses and seminars, Marie works to help nurses and other professionals learn how to help families with breastfeeding and related perinatal topics. Recognized for her warmth and personable teaching style, Marie continues to provide direct assistance to mothers, as well.

Marie writes weekly for her blog, Marie’s Outlook.

DIANNE CASSIDY is  a lactation consultant in Rochester, New York. She became interested in the field of lactation consulting after breastfeeding her own children. After spending thousands of hours working with new mothers and babies, she was able to sit for the board exam, which qualified her as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, or IBCLC. In 2010, She completed her Advanced Lactation certification and BS in Maternal Child Health/Lactation. In the fall of 2013, she completed my MA in Health and Wellness/Lactation.

Barbara Robertson, IBCLC, is the owner of The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor.  Barbara decided in 2008 to open The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor so mothers would have one place to go to have all of their breastfeeding questions answered and all of their needs met because that's what she needed. Barbara has been involved in education for over 24 years. She received a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education in 1988 and her Masters in Education in 1995. Barbara left teaching elementary students in 1995 to raise her two children. Her children spurred her to become involved in La Leche League and, in 1998, she became a La Leche Leader. She enjoyed this work so much that she decided to sit for the International Lactation Consultant Exam and became a board-certified lactation consultant. Barbara is the Director of The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor, on-site at the Center for the Childbearing Year.

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Zion has found the past five months of breastfeeding to be quite challenging and she admits it still isn’t easy. Attachment issues at the beginning have resolved but Zion was recently diagnosed with dysphoric milk ejection reflex (D-MER) where she gets either anxious, sad, depressed or moody when she has a let down. It’s ultimately a chemical reaction to the let down reflex and while she says it’s challenging, she also often forgets she has it.

Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER) is a condition affecting lactating women, characterized by abrupt episodes of dysphoria, or negative emotions, occurring just before milk let down. Alia Macrina Heise, a lactation specialist, identified D-MER in 2007 after experiencing symptoms personally while breastfeeding her third child.

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D-MER (Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex) with Morgan Hedley, CLES Morgan Hedley is Lactation Specialist, Postpartum Wellness Advocate and mother of two young boys. After the birth of her first son, and her own experience with breastfeeding, she felt compelled to leave her decade long career in fashion and return to […] The post 70: D-MER (Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex) with Morgan Hedley, CLES appeared first on Growing Our Family Podcasts.

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