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Oxytocin is released when a mother cares for her child, making the interaction pleasurable. Mothers that report high levels of infant-mother bonding and demonstrate responsive and sensitive parenting generally show increased levels of OT and brain reward center activation during play sessions [1] .
Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. [4] Present in animals since early stages of evolution, in humans it plays roles in behavior that include social bonding, love, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth.
The function of oxytocin may lead to an increase in maternal behavior by subsequently reducing anxiety as it has been found to regulate anxiety, social recognition, and coping with stress. [28] Early studies have found that oxytocin influenced maternal behavior of mother rats depending on the environment in which they were placed. Oxytocin ...
This bond increases the mother's and child's abilities to control their emotions, reduce the stress response and encourages healthy social development in the child. [21] Physical contact during breastfeeding increases levels of oxytocin in the mother and child, which improves the mother-child bond.
Less is known about the paternal brain, but changes in the father's brain occur alongside the mother. [1] Research on this topic is continuing to expand as more researchers examine fathers. Many of the brain regions and networks responsible for parental behavior are responsible for parental behavior in human fathers after having a child. [10]
Oxytocin's interactions with other hormones is thought to be responsible for creating variability in parent behaviors such as sensitivity to infant cues and parent-child synchrony. It is being researched as a possible area for intervention in parents that are considered high risk (premature birth, postpartum depression, environmental conditions).
During human parturition, the quantifiable level of blood plasma oxytocin rises: it becomes twice as much during the initial phase of dilation and continues to increase until the second stage of labor. [36] Oxytocin furthermore induces uterine contractions in mothers following childbirth which helps in the prevention of bleeding. [37]
Breastfeeding enhances the mother-child bonding through manipulating the feelings of the baby and mother. A mother holds up her child, showing a maternal bond. [34] Regarding the babies, breastfeeding is a special physical interaction that provides comforting, analgesic, and relaxing effects. During weaning, breastfeeding is an approach to ...