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PubMed1987

Experience with pups sustains maternal responding in postpartum rats.

In these studies, we investigated the sustaining of postpartum maternal responsiveness through pup experience. In the first study, females were tested for maternal behavior at various times after pregnancy termination by Caesarean section (CS) at term. The females remained rapidly responsive to young for 7 days after pregnancy termination, but were no more responsive than virgins after 10 days. In the second study, females were allowed varying times of complete access to pups, beginning 24 hours after CS, and were tested for maternal behavior 10 days later. Females who retrieved and cared for pups for 30 minutes during exposure, remained rapidly maternal 10 days after CS; those who were allowed only 15 minutes of caring for pups did not. In the third study, females received 24 hours of exposure to distal sensory stimuli from pups, beginning 24 hours after CS. The proportion of females who became maternal within 24 hours of the beginning of maternal testing, 10 days after CS, was greater than that among females who received no exposure to pups.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Adolescent mothers and their infants.

It is unclear why children of adolescent mothers experience more developmental problems than children of adult mothers. There has been minimal systematic investigation of whether there is a relationship between the young age of the mother and her mothering behaviors. Our data fail to demonstrate any relationship between adolescent maternal age and the counts of maternal behaviors three days following birth. Seventy-five normal primiparous mothers less than 20 years old were videotaped with their normal infants for ten minutes in a standardized laboratory setting during the three days following birth. The frequency of maternal behaviors was counted from the videotapes by trained observers. Future studies of primiparous adolescent mothers should consider the effects of maternal race/culture and socioeconomic status on their mothering behaviors. The relationship between adolescent maternal age and the vocalizations expressed by the mother to her infant should also be explored further.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Oxytocin, amino acid and monoamine release in the region of the medial preoptic area and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of the sheep during parturition and suckling.

Microdialysis sampling was used to measure the release of oxytocin (OXY) and monoamine and amino acid transmitters from the region of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) during parturition and suckling in sheep. Results showed that OXY and gamma-aminobutyric acid release increased in both the MPOA and BNST during parturition and suckling. Noradrenaline (NA) release increased in both structures during parturition but not during suckling. Dopamine (DA) release increased in the MPOA and decreased in the BNST during both parturition and suckling. Aspartate release increased in the MPOA during parturition, and the BNST during suckling, and glutamate release increased in the MPOA and BNST at parturition and only in the BNST during suckling. No changes in the release of serotonin or taurine occurred in these structures during parturition or suckling. In a further experiment on 6 estrogen-primed sheep, OXY (10 micrograms/ml) was infused into the MPOA via bilaterally placed microdialysis probes. This treatment inhibited rejection behavior towards lambs, but did not activate positive maternal responses. These OXY infusions also stimulated release of NA. These results show that complex patterns of neurochemical release occur in two closely related areas of the brain, the BNST and MPOA, during parturition when maternal behavior is stimulated. However, while these patterns of release are similar in the two structures, particularly at birth when maternal behavior is stimulated, they are not identical during labor contractions and suckling. The release of oxytocin within the MPOA during parturition may be important for stimulating a reduction in aggression towards lambs, although this action might be mediated via the effect of OXY on NA release.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1989

[Exposure of primary school children and their mothers to nitrogen dioxide in Sapporo City: comparisons of groups clustered by maternal daily behavior and habits].

Exposure of primary school children and their mothers to NO2 was investigated in two schools in the city of Sapporo. One school was located in the city center and another in a suburb of the city. The school children and mothers were requested to put on NO2 filter badges for 24 hours and to record activity during that period. They were also requested to fill out ATS-DLD questionnaires. The surveys were repeated twice, in the summer of 1986 and in the winter 1987, due to possible seasonal variation. Average NO2 exposure levels of both school children and mothers were lower in the summer than the corresponding averages in the winter. The average of the children was lower than that of mothers in both summer and winter. Averages of the children of the city-center school were higher than those of children in the school in the suburb in both summer and winter. These differences were not observed in mothers' averages. To examine the relationship between NO2 exposure levels and maternal daily behavior and habits, the subjects were classified into three clusters by employment status, living area, smoking habits, type of heating appliance, and use of fans during cooking. While average NO2 exposure levels of children were similar among the three clusters, the average of the mothers of the third cluster was the highest among the clusters in either summer or winter. The third cluster was characterized by the highest rate of employment among the clusters, spending less time in their kitchens and not using fans regularly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2002

Medial preoptic lesions disrupt parental behavior in both male and female California mice (Peromyscus californicus).

California mice (Peromyscus californicus) are monogamous and naturally biparental, making them an ideal species in which to study the neural basis of paternal behavior. A male or female from each male-female pair was given an electrolytic or sham lesion in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), an area known to be critical for the expression of maternal behavior in rats, and retested for parental responsiveness. MPOA-lesioned males and females showed significantly longer latencies to show parental behavior and spent significantly less time near pups, sniffing pups, and licking pups than sham-lesioned mice. However, MPOA lesions did not reduce time spent hovering over pups. The results suggest that the neural mechanisms mediating paternal behavior are similar to those mediating maternal behavior in this species.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Maternal management behaviors for young children with type 1 diabetes.

PURPOSE: To describe the process that mothers raising young (0-4 years old) children who are newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes move through to attain the necessary skills to care for their children. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A mixed methods design was used, including qualitative interviews with 28 mothers of young children with type 1 diabetes. Principles of naturalistic inquiry were used to guide the data collection process, management, and analysis of the qualitative findings. RESULTS: The process paralleled two of three management approaches and associated behaviors previously described by Gallo and Knafl. Strict adherence behaviors included rigidly following the team recommendations and avoiding strange environments outside the home. Flexible adherence behaviors strove to bring spontaneity back into family life. Selective adherence was not used by this population. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Nurses working with these mothers can provide information and support to help them transition from using strict adherence to the more user-friendly flexible adherence, while avoiding the pitfalls of the possibly harmful third approach of selective adherence. Nurses need to remember to praise the parents' efforts at managing their children's diabetes, for our acknowledgment of their work is empowering and affirming.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1997

Scopolamine impairs the ability of parturient ewes to learn to recognise their lambs.

Within a 4-h period after parturition, the ewe learns the odor of her lamb that will later allow recognition of her offspring from an alien lamb. This study investigated the involvement of the cholinergic system in this olfactory learning. At parturition and 2 h later, ewes received IM injections of saline (C group, n = 21), scopolamine methylbromide (METSCOP group, 100 micrograms/kg, n = 14) a peripherally acting muscarinic antagonist, a low dose of scopolamine hydrobromide (SCOP32 group, 32 micrograms/kg, n = 15) or a higher dose of scopolamine hydrobromide (SCOP100 group, 100 micrograms/kg, n = 18). Maternal behavior was observed at parturition and selective behavior was tested after 4 h of mother-young contact. No differences in maternal behavior at parturition were found between groups. By contrast, the proportion of ewes showing selectivity was significantly lower in the SCOP100 group (7/18) than in the METSCOP group (12/14, P = 0.01), SCOP32 group (12/15, P = 0.03), or C group (17/21, P = 0.01). In addition, saline-treated ewes, after having established their selective bond, received 100 micrograms/kg scopolamine and were again tested for selectivity 20 min later. Only one out of the 17 tested ewes failed to recognize their lambs after this treatment. These results indicate that intact central muscarinic transmission of the brain is required for the learning of individual lamb odor at parturition but not for the recall of this information.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Method of estimating preference of the female rat for various sound stimuli while searching for pups.

A rat was placed without her pups in an open T-shaped maze and maternal behavior stimulated by the presentation of pups. The pups were then removed and tone pulses (7 kHz, 14 kHz) and a tape recording of the pup's pain signal were simultaneously presented from different alleys of the maze. Preference was estimated by the predominate direction of sorties during random alternation of the sound sources. Preference for the pup's pain signal was found in eight rats.

Animals↗

PubMed1975

Mother-child interaction observed at home.

Lower-class and middle-class mother-child pairs were observed in their homes. In contrast to other studies, very few class differences were found in maternal behavior. These results are discussed in terms of the contexts in which observations are made.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

Cross-fostering of DBA and C57Bl mice. Increase in voluntary consumption of alcohol by DBA weanlings.

Weanling mice of the alcohol-avoiding DBA strain cross-fostered to mothers of the alcohol-selecting C57Bl strain drank twice as much alcohol as did nonfostered DBA mice. In contrast, C57Bl mice cross-fostered to DBA mothers drank the same amount of alcohol as did nonfostered C57Bl mice. Differences in maternal behavior seem to be responsible for differences in alcohol selection by weanlings.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1999

The roles of child reactivity and parenting context in infant pain response.

This study examined the relative importance of and developmental changes in biologically-based child variables (infant vagal tone and infant difficultness) and parental contextual variables (maternal behavior during pain and maternal sensitivity) in the prediction of infant pain behavior during immunization. Sixty infant-mother dyads were assessed when infants were approximately 6 or 18-months of age. During the first session, mothers completed a measure of infant difficultness, infants' resting EKG signals were recorded, and maternal sensitivity was rated. During the second session, infants' immunizations were video-recorded and maternal vocalizations and infant pain behavior were rated. At 6-months of age, 44% of the variability in infant pain behavior was predicted by infant difficultness and mothers' vocalizations during immunization. At 18-months of age, 35% of the variability in infant pain behavior was predicted by maternal sensitivity and infant vagal tone level. Children's emotion regulation skills and socialization histories may underlie age-related changes in the predictors of their pain.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Peripartum sex steroid changes and maternal style in rhesus and Japanese macaques.

The subtle and complex relationships between the sequential maturation of the endocrine systems during pregnancy and parturition, and the hormonal role in activating the central nervous system to express maternal behavior in primates, are far from being completely understood. Recent studies on the association between sex steroids and maternal behavior have yielded conflicting results in this group. Here we use a comparative approach to assess the correlation between changes in the peripartum endocrine profiles and maternal styles in two closely related macaque species, housed in analogous environments. We included in this study the first seven Japanese macaque and seven rhesus macaque mother-infant pairs born during the birth season of 2001 at the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. We observed each pair 3h/week (six weekly 30-min observation sessions) during the first 12 weeks of lactation. We collected fecal samples twice a week from each mother, starting 4 weeks before parturition and ending 4 weeks after parturition. We tested the hypothesis that neuroendocrine changes during pregnancy and lactation might specifically contribute to the regulation and timing of infant rejection. Despite their biological similarities, we observed a clear difference in maternal style between the two groups concerning rejection rates: rhesus macaque mothers rejected their infants earlier and more frequently throughout the whole 12 weeks of study. On the other hand, protectiveness showed similar patterns and values in the two groups, and maternal warmth was significantly higher in the rhesus group, but it followed a similar pattern over time. We also confirmed an association between maternal rejection and excreted estrogen, but not excreted progesterone, for Japanese macaques. This association was not apparent for the rhesus macaques. This result, coupled with the observation that rhesus mothers are more rejecting than Japanese macaque mothers, tends to support our hypothesis. As a group, rhesus macaques are less inhibited in the rejection of their infants, and this is paralleled by a less marked change in the primacy of estrogen in the last phase of pregnancy. On the contrary, the Japanese group is characterized by higher levels of E(1)C and the E(1)C/PdG ratio. Therefore, according to our hypothesis, their tendency to increase the rejection rate may be suppressed through a feedback loop that enhances maternal motivation and results in a more tolerant outcome toward the infant.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Nonselective maternal bonding but pup recognition in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni.

This study characterizes the maternal behavior in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni and determines whether lactating females develop a selective bonding to their own pups in addition to maternal responsiveness. Mother-litter interactions were observed daily for 2 months; during the 1st postpartum week, selectivity and preference tests for own or alien pups were performed. Lactating females exhibited all patterns of maternal behavior observed in other rodent species and equally responded with care-taking behaviors to their own and alien pups, although they were able to discriminate between them, showing preference for their own pups. Results are discussed, taking into account the possible role of this behavior in shaping different aspects of life underground in ctenomyid species.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Age-dependent effects of gestational and lactational iron deficiency on anxiety behavior in rats.

Gestational iron deficiency (ID) has been linked to alterations in GABA neurotransmission, but whether these neuronal changes are mirrored in altered anxiety behavior in rats is not known. In this experiment, two tests of GABA-related affective behaviors in rats, ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) and elevated plus maze (EPM) were used to investigate the consequences of maternal ID. Female rats were randomly assigned to one of three diet groups: low iron (10-20 ppm Fe), recommended (standard) iron control (60 ppm Fe) or lab chow (250 ppm Fe) control. Diets started 7 days prior to mating and continued until 10 days after birth (PN10). Maternal behavior and offspring growth and activity were also assessed. Blood samples taken on PN10 revealed a significant decrement in serum iron and an increase in total iron binding capacity in the low iron groups compared to the two control groups. Relative to the two control groups, the low iron group weighed less on PN1, and this weight difference persisted in adulthood. In neonates, the rate of USVs in the low iron group was significantly higher than the two control groups, and their general activity was significantly less than the controls. Maternal behavior was not significantly different across groups. By adulthood, anxiety behavior and motor activity in the low iron group were comparable to controls, although the iron deficient subjects habituated more slowly. This study shows that prenatal iron deficiency results in increased anxiety behavior in neonates that appears to be reversed with iron repletion but that some aspects of altered exploratory behavior and growth persist into adulthood.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1990

Haloperidol-induced disruption of retrieval behavior and reversal with apomorphine in lactating rats.

Lactating rats were used in experiments to examine the role of the dopamine system in the regulation of ongoing maternal behavior. Administration of haloperidol disrupted retrieval behavior and nest building in a dose-dependent manner but not nursing behavior and pup licking. Feeding behavior including carrying of food pellets to the nest and general locomotor ability were not disrupted by haloperidol. Apomorphine effectively reversed the inhibition caused by dopaminergic blockade. These results indicate a role for dopamine in the motivational regulation of retrieval and nest building during the postpartum phase of maternal behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Hormonal correlates for the initiation of breast-feeding in Bangladeshi women.

Hormonal changes that occur before or during parturition are known to trigger early postpartum maternal behaviors in many mammals. In humans, little evidence has been found for hormonal mediation of early postpartum maternal behavior. In this paper, we investigate associations between fetoplacental hormone concentrations in late pregnancy on the time from parturition to initiation of breast-feeding. A sample of 91 pregnant rural Bangladeshi women, enrolled in a 9-month prospective study, provided twice-weekly urine specimens and structured interviews. The subjects provided self-reports of time from parturition to initiation of breast-feeding. Specimens were assayed for urinary concentrations of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), pregnanediol-3alpha-glucuronide (PdG, a metabolite of progesterone), and urinary estrone conjugates (E1C). Parametric hazards analysis was used to investigate the effects of hCG, PdG, and E1C concentrations and other covariates (mother's age, parity, and child's sex) on the duration from parturition to breast-feeding. Mother's age, parity, the child's sex, hCG, and PdG showed no association with the onset of breast-feeding. Urinary E1C was significantly associated with time to initiation of breast-feeding, explaining about 4% of the variation in the behavior. The relationship was positive so that higher prepartum concentrations of EIC were associated with later times to initiation of breast-feeding. The direction of this relationship is opposite that found for many other species of mammals but is consistent with some recent findings in primates.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Do endorphin residues of beta lipotropin in hormone reinforce reproductive functions?

The beta-endorphin residue of pituitary beta-lipotropin hormone, which regulates utilization and storage of body fat, is several times more potent than morphine in raising pain tolerance. It also produces habituation and dependency behavior. Recently it was found to be present in amniotic fluid and to be a releaser of prolactin. It now appears that the placenta is a rich source of endorphins. These findings may open a new chapter in understanding molecular determinants of behavior patterns responsible for natural selection and survival of vertebrate species. Clinical application of basic information and new concepts relating endorphins to maternal behavior patterns and neonatal physiology is the purpose of this communication. A brief review of the literature, some data from [3H]opiate-binding assays, observation of maternal performance, and reports of maternity patients' feelings and motivations suggesting that these hormone molecules mediate formation of affectional attitude, appetitive systems, and maternal behavior will be presented.

Endorphins↗

PubMed2006

Malnutrition in the second year of life and psychosocial care: a case-control study in an urban area of Southeast Brazil.

The present study aimed to identify and measure the relationship between malnutrition and psychosocial care in the second year of life. A case-control study compared 101 malnourished 12-23-month-old children (weight-for-age < 5th percentile, WHO/NCHS) to 200 well-nourished children (weight-for-age > 25th percentile) for exposure to various maternal behaviors related to psychosocial care. A psychosocial care score was constructed, based on the number of desirable maternal behaviors that were absent (the higher the score, the worse the quality of childcare). The association was modified by per capita family income. After adjusting for possible confounders, children from higher-income households showed no association between psychosocial care and malnutrition. For children from lower-income households, worse psychosocial care doubled the risk of malnutrition (OR = 7.26; 95%CI: 2.42-21.82) compared to low income alone (OR = 3.08; 95%CI: 1.28-7.42).

Attitude to Health↗