Responding to a crying infant – You do not learn it overnight: A phenomenological study

Kurth, Elisabeth; Kennedy, Holly Powell; Stutz, Elisabeth Zemp; Kesselring, Annemarie; Fornaro, Isabel; Spichiger, Elisabeth

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2013.06.017

Cited by 24 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…There is limited behavioural evidence of how experience changes mothers’ responses to infants’ auditory cues. For crying specifically, one study suggests that with growing experience, mothers acquire a more differentiated understanding of their infant’s crying and ability to manage their own responses 38 . The idea that mothers’ responses to infant vocalisations may be altered through experience is intuitive when considering mothers’ auditory environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Duration of motherhood has incremental effects on mothers’ neural processing of infant vocal cues: a neuroimaging study of women

Parsons

Young

Petersen

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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The transition to motherhood, and the resultant experience of caregiving, may change the way women respond to affective, infant signals in their environments. Nonhuman animal studies have robustly demonstrated that mothers process both infant and other salient signals differently from nonmothers. Here, we investigated how women with and without young infants respond to vocalisations from infants and adults (both crying and neutral). We examined mothers with infants ranging in age (1–14 months) to examine the effects of duration of maternal experience. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that mothers showed greater activity than nonmothers to vocalisations from adults or infants in a range of cortical regions implicated in the processing of affective auditory cues. This main effect of maternal status suggests a general difference in vocalisation processing across infant and adult sounds. We found that a longer duration of motherhood, and therefore more experience with an infant, was associated with greater infant-specific activity in key parental brain regions, including the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. We suggest that these incremental differences in neural activity in the maternal brain reflect the building of parental capacity over time. This is consistent with conceptualizations of caregiving as a dynamic, learning process in humans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Duration of motherhood has incremental effects on mothers’ neural processing of infant vocal cues: a neuroimaging study of women

Parsons

Young

Petersen

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…The differing needs of parents across their baby's development are not surprising (e.g., Kurth et al., ), but demonstrate that interventions targeting the transition to parenthood may need to focus on particular developmental points (e.g., prenatal, early postnatal, toddler) rather than trying to deliver all parenting information in a single intervention (cf. Butler, Hare, Walker, Wieck, & Wittkowski, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Parenting Support and Information: A Consumer Perspective

Morawska

Weston

Bowd

2018

Infant Mental Health Journal

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The transition to parenthood is a period of both joy and challenge for most parents. There is a recognized need to support parents during this period, yet existing interventions have shown limited evidence of efficacy. This study takes a consumer-focused approach to examine the needs and preferences of parents both prenatally (n = 77) and postnatally (n = 123) for parenting support. The study used a cross-sectional design with a purpose-built online survey. Parents were recruited via online forums, Facebook and parenting blogs, childcare centers, and playgroups. In general, all parents were satisfied with their current levels of both formal and informal support, and about one fourth of parents had accessed a parenting intervention. Parents expressed a moderate level of interest in additional parenting information, and parents expecting their first baby indicated preferences for information about basic baby care needs whereas postnatally, parents expressed more interest in topics around self-care and behavior management. The implications for developing interventions and engaging families are discussed.

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“…Studies from human mothers show that reactivity to infant auditory cues builds over time. Vocalization processing of baby cries is increased in more experienced mothers (Bornstein et al, 2017; Parsons et al, 2017) which possibly improves the recognition of the behavioral meaning of these sounds, and promotes appropriate caregiving responses (Kurth et al, 2014). …”

Section: Plasticity In the Auditory Cortex During Motherhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…New mothers themselves undergo dramatic endocrinological and physiological changes supporting the establishment and maintenance of maternal caregiving, including changes throughout the central nervous system (Bornstein et al, 2017; Bridges, 2016; Kim et al, 2016; Olazábal et al, 2013). Healthy maternal sensitivity is characterized by the ability to reliably recognize and respond to infant cues, thus initiating appropriate caregiving responses (Dulac et al, 2014; Insel and Young, 2001; Kohl and Dulac, 2018; Kurth et al, 2014; Marlin et al, 2015; Parsons et al, 2017; Rickenbacher et al, 2017; Rilling and Young, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromodulation of maternal circuits by oxytocin

Valtcheva

Froemke

2018

Cell Tissue Res

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Motherhood in mammals involves tremendous changes throughout the body and central nervous system, which support attention and nurturing of infants. Maternal care consists of complex behaviors, such as nursing and protection of the offspring, requiring new mothers to become highly sensitive to infant needs. Long-lasting neural plasticity in various regions of the cerebral cortex may enable the perception and recognition of infant cues, important for appropriate caregiving responses. Recent findings have demonstrated that the neuropeptide oxytocin is involved in a number of physiological processes, including parturition and lactation and dynamically shaping neuronal responses to infant stimuli as well. Here, we review experience-dependent changes within the cortex occurring throughout motherhood, focusing on plasticity of the somatosensory and auditory cortex. We outline the role of oxytocin in gating cortical plasticity and discuss potential mechanisms regulating oxytocin release in response to different sensory stimuli.

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Responding to a crying infant – You do not learn it overnight: A phenomenological study

Cited by 24 publications

References 53 publications

Duration of motherhood has incremental effects on mothers’ neural processing of infant vocal cues: a neuroimaging study of women

Duration of motherhood has incremental effects on mothers’ neural processing of infant vocal cues: a neuroimaging study of women

Early Parenting Support and Information: A Consumer Perspective

Neuromodulation of maternal circuits by oxytocin

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