ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the association between different feeding patterns, emotional states, and salivary oxytocin (OT) levels during breastfeeding.Methods:From January to December 2019, 153 pairs of 3-month-old infants and their mothers were recruited from 4 maternal and child health hospitals in Chongqing, Liuzhou, Dalian and Hangzhou in China.Saliva samples were collected from the mothers at the first 5 minutes of feeding, 5 minutes during feeding, and 10 minutes after feeding.Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS) was used to evaluate maternal depression.Infants were divided into exclusive breastfeeding group and artificial feeding group according to feeding patterns.ELISA of salivary oxytocin was performed by ELISA kits, and the OT levels measured at the 3 time points were converted using linear interpolation.Area under the curve with respect to ground(OTAUCG) was used to represent the total concentration of salivary OT during the mother's breastfeeding.SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Multiple linear regression analysis and two factors analysis of variance were used to explore the association between different feeding methods, emotional state and salivary oxytocin during breastfeeding.Results:The results of the two factors analysis of variance showed that the interaction between feeding pattern and mother's emotion was not significant ( F=2.440, P=0.120), the main effect of mother's emotion was not significant ( F=0.380, P=0.539), and the main effect of feeding style was significant ( F=3.350, P=0.021). The level of OTAUCG under pure breastfeeding ((151 561.47±75 738.11) pg/mL) was higher than that under artificial feeding ((122 269.03±65 029.88) pg/mL), and the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in OTAUCG levels between mothers with normal emotions ((146 106.37±75 106.76) pg/mL) and mothers with depressed emotions ((129 079.56±67 565.87) pg/mL) ( P=0.221). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that artificial feeding had a negative predictive effect on maternal salivary OT levels compared to exclusive breastfeeding( β=-0.211, t=-2.513, P=0.013). Conclusion:Feeding pattern is a factor that affects the mother's salivary OT level, and breastfeeding can improve the mother's OT level.