Gestational Hormone Profiles Predict Human Maternal Behavior at 1-Year Postpartum

Publication Date

9-2016

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Estrogens, Progesterone, Maternal behavior, Maternal care, Maternal sensitivity, Maternal brain, Pregnancy, Prenatal

Abstract

In many non-human species, including primates, gestational reproductive hormones play an essential role in the onset of maternal motivation and behaviors. We investigated the associations between prepartum estradiol and progesterone and maternal behavior at 1-year postpartum in 177 women. Blood was obtained at five gestational time points and an index of quality of maternal care was determined using a well-validated mother-child interaction protocol. Women who exhibited higher quality maternal care at 1-year postpartum were characterized by unique gestational profiles of estradiol, progesterone and the estrogen to progesterone ratio; specifically by slower accelerations and levels of these hormone trajectories beginning in midgestation. Further, it appeared that both fetal sex and parity moderated these findings, with first time mothers and mothers of females showing stronger associations. In sum, these data document persisting associations between prepartum hormone profiles and human maternal behavior. More broadly, these findings add to the growing literature highlighting the perinatal period as one of critical neurodevelopment in the lifespan of the human female.

Copyright Date

7-16-2016

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by Elsevier Inc. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:

Glynn, L. M., Davis, E. P., Sandman, C. A., & Goldberg, W. A. (2016). Gestational hormone profiles predict human maternal behavior at 1-year postpartum. Hormones and Behavior, 85, 19-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.07.002

Accepted Manuscript is openly available through the "Link to Full Text" button.

The published Version of Record is available at libraries through Compass or Worldcat.

Rights Holder

Elsevier Inc.

Provenance

Received from CHORUS

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

7 pgs

File Size

468 KB

Publication Title

Hormones and Behavior

Volume

85

First Page

19

Last Page

25

ISSN

1095-6867

PubMed ID

27427279

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