Hormonal and attitudinal correlates of maternal behaviour during the early postpartum period in first-time mothers

Abstract

The present study assesses, for the first time, the association of hormones during the puerperium with a mother's early responses to her infant. It also evaluates the relation to maternal behaviour of women's pregnancy attitudes to children and caretaking, focusing especially on the relative contributions of hormones and maternal attitudes to variations in maternal behaviour in primiparous new mothers. Thirty primiparous women filled out questionnaires during pregnancy and on days 3 or 4 postpartum. During the puerperium plasma levels of a variety of pitutitary, ovarian, and adrenal hormones were determined and observations of mother-infant interaction were undertaken. Multiple regression analyses indicated that levels of non-instrumental ‘approach’ maternal behaviours were directly associated with levels of cortisol and positive pregnancy maternal attitudes. A framework for understanding these results is discussed.