With nearly a third of babies in the U.S. delivered by
C-section, many researchers are wondering how if, at all, the experience of
undergoing labor contractions, which release hormones that are linked to
maternal behavior, affects a mother’s bond with her baby.
A new study from Yale University
has found that women who give birth vaginally are more responsive to
their
babies’ cries than women who give birth by C-section. This increased
responsiveness may be linked to the brain's innate response to natural
birth, since brain scans on
post-partum women indicated that the areas of the brain that are linked
to
motivation and emotions were less active in women who had had had
C-sections.
This research does come with some important caveats, however.
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