The aim of this study was to verify the influence of mother to child skin-to-skin contact and the ability of 2-day-old infants to recognise their own mother's axillary odour.

Methods

We tested the responses of 19 vaginally delivered, breastfeeding newborns to their mothers' axillary odours using a paired-choice test. The eight males and 11 females were exposed to their own mother's axillary odour and the odour of another unfamiliar new mother taking part in the study, and their responses to each woman were taped for 60 sec. We did this by assessing how long their heads were orientated towards pads carrying the scents of their mothers and the unfamiliar women.

Results

The average time that the infants' heads were orientated towards the olfactory stimulus of their own mothers was 20.53 sec, which was significantly longer than the 11.13 sec recorded for the unfamiliar women (p < 0.05). In addition, this orientation increased significantly with the newborn infants' age in hours (Spearman's Rho = 0.58, p < 0.01) and their recognition time significantly decreased (Spearman's Rho = −0.52, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Two-day-old breastfeeding newborn infants who experienced skin-to-skin contact with their mothers were able to recognise their axillary odour.

Graphical Abstract

References

1Schaal B. Review: olfaction in infants and children: developmental and functional perspectives. Chem Senses 1988; 13: 145–90.
10.1093/chemse/13.2.145
Web of Science® Google Scholar
2Marlier L, Schaal B. Human newborns prefer human milk: conspecific milk odor is attractive without postnatal exposure. Child Dev 2005; 76: 155–68.
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00836.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
3Varendi H, Porter RH. Breast odor as the only maternal stimulus elicits crawling towards the odor source. Acta Paediatr 2001; 90: 372–5.
10.1111/j.1651-2227.2001.tb00434.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
4Porter RH, Winberg J. Unique salience of maternal breast odors for newborn infants. Neuroscience Biobehav Rev 1999; 23: 439–49.
10.1016/S0149-7634(98)00044-X
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
5Marlier L, Schaal B, Soussignan R. Neonatal responsiveness to the odor of amniotic fluid and lacteal fluids: a test of perinatal chemosensory continuity. Child Dev 1998; 69: 611–23.
10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06232.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
6Varendi H, Porter RH, Winberg J. Does the newborn baby find the nipple by smell? Lancet 1994; 344: 989–90.
10.1016/S0140-6736(94)91645-4
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
7MacFarlane A. Olfaction in the development of social preferences in the human neonate. Ciba Found Symp 1975; 33: 103–17.
PubMed Google Scholar
8Russell MJ. Human olfactory communication. Nature 1976; 260: 520–2.
10.1038/260520a0
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
9Varendi H, Porter RH, Winberg J. The effect of labor on olfactory exposure learning within the first postnatal hour. Behav Neurosci 2002; 116: 206–11.
10.1037/0735-7044.116.2.206
PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
10Lagercrantz H. Stress, arousal, and gene activation at birth. News Physiol Sci 1996; 11: 214–8.
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
11Lagercrantz H, Slotkin TA. The “stress” of being born. Sci Am 1986; 254: 100–7.
10.1038/scientificamerican0486-100
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
12Winberg J, Uvnas-Moberg K. Role of sensory stimulation in the energy economy in mother and infant with particular regard to the gastrointestinal endocrine system. In: E Lebenthal, editor. Textbook of gastroenterology and nutrition in infancy, 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press, 1989: 53–62.
Google Scholar
13Mizuno K, Mizuno N, Shinohara T, Noda M. Mother-infant skin-to-skin contact after delivery results in early recognition of own mother's milk odour. Acta Paediatr 2004; 93: 1640–5.
10.1111/j.1651-2227.2004.tb00856.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
14Porter RH, Makin JW, Davis LB, Christensen KM. Breast-fed infants respond to olfactory cues from their own mother and unfamiliar lactating females. Infant Behav Dev 1992; 15: 85–93.
10.1016/0163-6383(92)90008-T
Web of Science® Google Scholar
15Porter RH, Schaal B. Olfaction and development of social preferences in human infants and children. In: RL Doty, editor. Handbook of clinical olfaction and gustation. 2nd ed. New York: NY Marcel Dekker Inc, 2003: 309–27.
Google Scholar
16Cernoch JM, Porter RH. Recognition of maternal axillary odors by infants. Child Dev 1985; 56: 1593–8.
10.2307/1130478
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
17Bowlby J. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic, 1969.
Google Scholar
18Schaffer HR. The growth of sociability. Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Baltimore: Penguin, 1971.
Google Scholar
19Allam MD, Marlier L, Schaal B. Learning at the breast: preference formation for an artificial scent and its attraction against the odor of maternal milk. Infant Behav Dev 2006; 29: 308–21.
10.1016/j.infbeh.2005.12.008
PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
20Vaglio S, Minicozzi P, Bonometti E, Mello G, Chiarelli B. Volatile signals during pregnancy: a possible chemical basis for mother-infant recognition. J Chem Ecol 2009; 35: 131–9.
10.1007/s10886-008-9573-5
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
21Vaglio S. Chemical communication and mother-infant recognition. Commun Integr Biol 2009; 2: 279–81.
10.4161/cib.2.3.8227
PubMed Google Scholar
22Makin JW, Porter RH. Attractiveness of lactating females' breast odors to neonates. Child Dev 1989; 60: 803–10.
10.2307/1131020
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar

Citing Literature

Volume104, Issue3

March 2015

Pages 237-240