Discuss the following statement: “All mothers know instinctively how to take care of their new babies.” Discuss the biological, individual, and social factors that contribute to a mother’s ability to nurture her new baby.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: New mothers get some help from their biology. A surge of sex steroid hormones, progesterone and estrogen, changes the structure of the new mother’s brain in the area that helps us to think about what is going on in someone else’s mind (Caruso, 2016). These structural changes are associated with the woman’s feeling of attachment to her infant and persist for at least 2 years. The rapid hormonal changes that follow childbirth, along with other stresses new mothers experience, can result in the anxiety, irritability, sadness, and restlessness that we associate with the “baby blues.” Women in Western society receive little recognition from society that their new role is valued, and they may have only limited support. Visitors are more interested in the newborn than the new mother, and women with young infants often feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in public places such as restaurants or coffee shops. Consequently, new mothers can feel a profound sense of isolation.