Mother and newborn baby: Mutual regulation of physiology and behavior— A selective review
- 26 October 2005
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Developmental Psychobiology
- Vol. 47 (3), 217-229
- https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20094
Abstract
This article reviews 30 years of work demonstrating that interactions between mother and newborn infant in the period just after birth influence the physiology and behavior of both. Close body contact of the infant with his/her mother helps regulate the newborn's temperature, energy conservation, acid–base balance, adjustment of respiration, crying, and nursing behaviors. Similarly, the baby may regulate—i.e., increase—the mother's attention to his/her needs, the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, and the efficiency of her energy economy through vagus activation and a surge of gastrointestinal tract hormone release resulting in better exploitation of ingested calories. The effects of some of these changes can be detected months later. Parallels to animal research and possible mechanisms are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 47: 217–229, 2005.Keywords
This publication has 67 references indexed in Scilit:
- Maternal behaviour in sheep and its neuroendocrine regulationActa Paediatrica, 1994
- Early relationships as regulators of infant physiology and behaviorActa Paediatrica, 1994
- Psychobiology of maternal behavior: contribution to the clinical understanding of maternal behavior among humansActa Paediatrica, 1994
- Maternal behaviors: evidence that they feed back to alter brain morphology and functionActa Paediatrica, 1994
- Neurobiology of associative learning in the neonate: Early olfactory learningBehavioral and Neural Biology, 1994
- Olfactory Recognition: A Simple Memory SystemScience, 1990
- DURATION OF BREAST-FEEDING AFTER EARLY INITIATION AND FREQUENT FEEDINGThe Lancet, 1978
- Changes in breast sensitivity at puberty, during the menstrual cycle, and at parturition.BMJ, 1977
- LONG‐TERM EFFECT ON MOTHER‐INFANT BEHAVIOUR OF EXTRA CONTACT DURING THE FIRST HOUR POST PARTUM II. A Follow‐up at Three monthsActa Paediatrica, 1977
- LONG‐TERM EFFECT ON MOTHER‐INFANT BEHAVIOUR OF EXTRA CONTACT DURING THE FIRST HOUR POST PARTUM I. First Observations at 36 hoursActa Paediatrica, 1977