Mothers' and fathers' joint profiles for testosterone and oxytocin in a small-scale fishing-farming community: Variation based on marital conflict and paternal contributions.

INTRODUCTION: Testosterone and oxytocin are psychobiological mechanisms that interrelate with relationship quality between parents and the quantity and quality of parenting behaviors, thereby affecting child outcomes. Their joint production based on family dynamics has rarely been tested, particularly cross-culturally. METHODS: We explored family function and salivary testosterone and oxytocin in mothers and fathers in a small-scale, fishing-farming society in Republic of the Congo. Fathers ranked one another in three domains of family life pertaining to the local cultural model of fatherhood. RESULTS: Fathers who were viewed as better providers had relatively lower oxytocin and higher testosterone than men seen as poorer providers, who had lower testosterone and higher oxytocin. Fathers also had higher testosterone and lower oxytocin in marriages with more conflict, while those who had less marital conflict had reduced testosterone and higher oxytocin. In contrast, mothers in conflicted marriages showed the opposite profiles of relatively lower testosterone and higher oxytocin. Mothers had higher oxytocin and lower testosterone if fathers were uninvolved as direct caregivers, while mothers showed an opposing pattern for the two hormones if fathers were seen as involved with direct care. CONCLUSIONS: These results shed new light on parents' dual oxytocin and testosterone profiles in a small-scale society setting and highlight the flexibility of human parental psychobiology when fathers' roles and functions within families differ across cultures.

INTRODUCTION: La testostérone et l'ocytocine sont des mécanismes psychobiologiques qui sont interdépendants de la qualité de la relation entre les parents, ainsi que de la quantité et la qualité des comportements parentaux, et ainsi affectent les résultats de l'enfant. Leur production conjointe basée sur les dynamiques familiales a rarement été testée, en particulier de manière transculturelle. MÉTHODEIS: Nous avons investigué la fonction familiale, la testostérone et l'ocytocine chez les mères et les pères d'une micro société de pêcheurs-agriculteurs en République du Congo. Les pères se sont eux-mêmes classés dans trois domaines de la vie familiale relatif au modèle culturel local de la paternité. RÉSULTATIS: Les pères qui étaient considérés comme de meilleurs pourvoyeurs avaient relativement moins d'ocytocine et plus de testostérone que les hommes considérés comme des moins bons pourvoyeurs, ces derniers ayant des taux de testostérone plus bas et des taux d'ocytocine plus haut. Les pères présentaient également des taux plus élevés de testostérones et plus bas d'ocytocine dans les mariages plus conflictuels, alors que ceux engagés dans des mariages moins conflictuels présentaient une testostérone réduite et une ocytocine plus élevée. En revanche, les mères dans les mariages en conflit ont montré les profils opposés de testostérone relativement faible et d'ocytocine plus élevée. Les mères avaient des taux d'ocytocine et de testostérone plus élevés si les pères n'étaient pas impliqués directement dans les soins, tandis que les mères présentaient un schéma opposé pour les deux hormones si les pères étaient considérés comme impliqués dans les soins directs. CONCLUSIONS: Ces résultats ont jeté un nouvel éclairage sur les profils doubles de l'ocytocine et de la testostérone chez les parents, dans un nouveau contexte de micro société et ont mis en évidence la flexibilité de la psychobiologie parentale humaine lorsque les rôles et les fonctions des pères au sein des familles varient d'une culture à l'autre.

Current Trends in Research on Human Milk Exchange for Infant Feeding.

Breastfeeding is critical for the healthy growth and development of infants. A diverse range of infant-feeding methods are used around the world today. Many methods involve feeding infants with expressed human milk obtained through human milk exchange. Human milk exchange includes human milk banking, human milk sharing, and markets in which human milk may be purchased or sold by individuals or commercial entities. In this review, we examine peer-reviewed scholarly literature pertaining to human milk exchange in the social sciences and basic human milk sciences. We also examine current position and policy statements for human milk sharing. Our review highlights areas in need of future research. This review is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals and others who provide evidence-based care to families about infant feeding.

Compliance with the International Code of Marketing of breast-milk substitutes: an observational study of pediatricians' waiting rooms.

Abstract The importance of breastmilk as a primary preventative intervention is widely known and understood by most healthcare providers. The actions or non-actions that heathcare providers take toward promoting and supporting breastfeeding families make a difference in the success and duration of breastfeeding. Recognizing this relationship, the World Health Organization developed the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code), which defines best practices in breastfeeding promotion, including physicians' offices. The pediatric practices' waiting rooms are often a family's first experience with pediatric care. The specific aims of this study were to describe (1) Code compliance, (2) the demographic factors affecting the Code compliance, and (3) the amount and type of breastfeeding-supportive materials available in the pediatricians' waiting rooms. An observational cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 163 (82%) of the pediatric practices in Maricopa County, Arizona. None of the 100 waiting rooms that had any materials displayed (61%) was found to be completely Code compliant, with 81 of the offices having formula-promotional materials readily available. Waiting rooms in higher income areas offered more non-Code-compliant materials and gifts. Breastfeeding support information and materials were lacking in all but 18 (18%) offices. A positive relationship (t97=-2.31, p=0.02) occurred between the presence of breastfeeding educational materials and higher income areas. We were able to uncover some practice-related patterns that impact families and potentially undermine breastfeeding success. To move current practices toward breastfeeding-friendly physicians' offices, change is needed.