Parents sometimes find themselves lost when their child is born but luckily they have additional help that has been discovered recently: they they also secrete oxytocin, the love hormone, when they care for and hug the baby.
Dr. Ruth Feldman has led an investigation that has determined this, coordinating the work of Yale universities in the United States and Bar-Ilan in Israel.
Oxytocin and prolactin they intervene in the triggering of childbirth, in contractions of the uterus and in the production of breast milk. These hormones affect the functioning of the tonsil, the nerve center of our most instinctive emotions. And when the father takes his little one in his arms, when they occur, they help him to feel tender and to establish emotional bonds, to love him, in short.
Oxytocin in the father would be an evolutionary advantage
To women these hormonal changes affect us deeply after childbirth and are part of our nature. The interesting thing is that not only are we affected, to a lesser extent, that instinct of love and desire for protection it also occurs naturally in man, and is, without a doubt, a mechanism that has acted in favor of the survival of human offspring, who would not only have the care of their mother but also the loving protection of their father once produced the birth.
The fact that the human male is not so different from the female in hormonal production would indicate that we are a species that naturally contributes to the raising of children and that, precisely, that the male produces oxytocin and prolactin is not a coincidence, it is a coincidence. adaptation that makes our species special, although among the higher primates some are also protectors with the young.
That the male emotionally identifies with the baby, whether or not a biological child, would be an element that would favor the survival of the offspring and surely the males capable of protecting their children would have more offspring alive in those primitive times that should have been so hard.
In addition, oxytocin and prolactin cause aggressiveness to decrease, so perhaps, who knows ?, they could be decisive for the control of our most violent instincts.
The emotions of oxytocin
Oxytocin, in women, occurs in orgasm, breastfeeding and childbirth, being at the time of birth when it has the highest rate of its entire life, being the trigger for that feeling of falling in love with the baby that Women who do not have the opportunity to feel it at that time for medical interventions may take time to develop.
It cost me, my son was taken after delivery without letting me touch him and when I saw him I had a strange, distressing feeling, as if he did not instinctively recognize him as a son. Although when I took it in my arms everything changed and I even felt dizzy from the intense emotion.
Conclusion
Human societies have given different roles over the millennia to the father in the family and in raising children. I had always had doubts about whether the father's role might not exist naturally in our species, that it was something cultural.
But everything seems to tell me that I was wrong, that they are also naturally programmed to take their place next to the baby, hugging and taking care of him. Therefore, the less sensitive and close behaviors are those that are culturally developed against the instinctive basis of the human species.
Regarding us, knowing that the hormones of love, oxytocin and prolactin have a biological role in our feelings should make us respect them and ensure that they flow free in our veins, as it helps us to develop emotionally without interference. Parents, who now know that they also secrete oxytocin They do it when they take care of themselves and hug their child.
And if taking a baby in your arms naturally increases our emotions of tenderness and love, what reason can there be for not doing so?
