What's love got to do with it? The potential role of oxytocin in the association between postpartum depression and mother-to-infant skin-to-skin contact

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  • November 22, 2019
Creator
  • Peterman, Katherine
    • Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health
Abstract
  • Postpartum depression (PPD) is a maternal mental health problem associated with feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression. Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) is a health care intervention in which the infant is held prone against the mother's bare belly and chest. Oxytocin, the "hormone of love", is a neuropeptide that is both reduced in women with PPD and increased with SSC. This paper proposes that the physiological pathway of oxytocin during the postpartum period is the potential biological mechanism of the association between PPD and SSC. Further research is needed to examine this mechanism and support SSC as a successful intervention for the prevention and treatment of PPD.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Paper type: Other
Advisor
  • Martin, Sandra
Degree
  • Master of Public Health
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2014
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  • 35425dd4-1f39-4273-8825-d5738dec0957

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