Natural Childbirth Makes Mothers More Responsive To Own Baby-Cry

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 04 Sep 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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A new study has found that mothers who delivered vaginally compared to caesarean section delivery (CSD) were significantly more responsive to the cry of their own baby, identified through MRI brain scans two to four weeks after delivery.

The results of the study, to be published today in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggest that vaginal delivery (VD) mothers are more sensitive to own baby-cry in the regions of the brain that are believed to regulate emotions, motivation and habitual behaviours.

CSD is a surgical procedure, in which delivery occurs via incisions in the abdominal and uterine wall. It is considered necessary under some conditions to protect the health or survival of infant or mother, but it is controversially linked with postpartum depression. In the US the occurrence of CSD has increased steeply from 4.5% of all deliveries in 1965 to a recent high in 2006 of 29.1%.

The critical capacity of adults to develop the thoughts and behaviours needed for parents to care successfully for their newborn infants is supported by specific brain circuits and a range of hormones. The experience of childbirth by VD compared with CSD uniquely involves the pulsatile release of oxytocin from the posterior pituitary, uterine contractions and vagino-cervical stimulation. Oxytocin is a key mediator of maternal behaviour in animals.

"We wondered which brain areas would be less active in parents who delivered by caesarean section, given that this mode of delivery has been associated with decreased maternal behaviours in animal models, and a trend for increased postpartum depression in humans," said lead author Dr. James Swain, Child Study Centre, Yale University. "Our results support the theory that variations in delivery conditions such as with caesarean section, which alters the neurohormonal experiences of childbirth, might decrease the responsiveness of the human maternal brain in the early postpartum."

The researchers also looked into the brain areas affected by delivery conditions and found relationships between brain activity and measures of mood suggesting that some of the same brain regions may help regulate postpartum mood.

"As more women opt to wait until they are older to have children, and by association be more likely to have a caesarean section delivery, these results are important because they could provide better understanding of the basic neurophysiology and psychology of parent-infant attachment," said Swain. "This work could lead to early detection of families at risk for postpartum depression and attachment problems and form a model for testing interventions."

This study is published in the October 2008 issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Full citation:
Maternal Brain Response to Own Baby Cry is Affected by Cesarean Section Delivery
Swain JE, Tasgin E, Mayes LC, Feldman R, Constable RT, Leckman JF
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
49(10); DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01963.x

About the author

Dr. James Swain MD, PhD is based at the Child Study Centre at Yale University. Dr. Swain has been working in this field for 5 years and is among the first to do brain imaging of parents using baby-stimuli. His background includes a basic neuroscience PhD, MD training and subsequent psychiatry and child psychiatry specialty training before beginning this work.

About the journal

The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, is internationally recognised to be the leading journal covering both child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. Articles published include experimental and developmental studies, especially those relating to developmental psychopathology and the developmental disorders. An important function of the Journal is to bring together empirical research, clinical studies and reviews of high quality arising from different points of view. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry can be accessed online at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/jcpp

About The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The Association is a learned Society managed by an elected Council within a Constitution accepted by the membership. The Objects of the Association are the scientific study of all matters concerning the mental health and development of children through the medium of meetings and the establishment of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Mental Health , and the ACAMH Occasional Papers series, in which scientific matters can be discussed, and clinical findings, research projects and results can be published. The Association is multi-disciplinary in nature, and exists to further child psychology and psychiatry. Membership of the Association does not confer professional status on any individual. For further information, please visit http://www.acamh.org.uk/

About Wiley-Blackwell

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com or http://interscience.wiley.com.

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