The aim of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effects of maternal pethidine during labour on the developing breast feeding behaviour in infants in the first 2 h after birth compared with infants not exposed to pethidine. Forty-four healthy infants were observed immediately after birth. They were placed skin-to-skin on their mothers' chests. The development of mouth and sucking mov...

BACKGROUND Shaken baby syndrome often occurs after shaking in response to crying bouts. We questioned whether the use of the educational materials from the Period of PURPLE Crying program would change maternal knowledge and behaviour related to shaking. METHODS We performed a randomized controlled trial in which 1279 mothers received materials from the Period of PURPLE Crying program or contr...

Maternal behavior has a significant individual variability, as mothers take care differently to their young based on their own breeding experience or age. In this parent-youth system, we investigated whether the young played a role as modulator of maternal behavior. For this, we evaluated how adoptive quail (unstressed) raised chicks coming from stressed female (PS) or not (NPS) thank a social ...

Excess glucocorticoid transferred from stressed mother to the embryo affects developing vertebrate offspring, but the underlying programming events are unclear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that increased zygotic glucocorticoid deposition, mimicking a maternal stress scenario, modifies early brain development and larval behaviour in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Cortisol was microinjected...

Two primary dichotomies within vertebrate life histories involve reproductive mode (oviparity versus viviparity) and sex determination (genotypic sex determination versus environmental sex determination). Although reptiles show multiple evolutionary transitions in both parameters, the co-occurrence of viviparity and environmental-dependent sex determination have heretofore been regarded as inco...

We investigated the association between variation in parenting style and the offspring's behaviour and CSF monoamine metabolite (5-HIAA, HVA, and MHPG) levels in rhesus monkeys. Study subjects were 25 two-year-old females reared by their biological mothers and 15 same-aged females that were crossfostered at birth and reared by unrelated mothers. Subjects that were rejected more by their mothers...

BACKGROUND Health-seeking behaviour lies on the direct pathway between socio-economic position (SEP) and health outcomes. The objective of this systematic review is to identify and synthesise evidence of socio-economic gradients in health-seeking behaviours related to maternal and child health in Egypt. METHODS Four databases (Medline, Embase, Global Health and Web of Science) were searched i...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the heritability of child behaviour problems and investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and child behaviour problems in a genetically sensitive design. DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. SETTING The Twins and Multiple Births Association Heritability Study (TAMBAHS) is an online UK-wide volunteer-based study investigating the deve...