Motherhood
Language used by mothers affects oxytocin levels of infants
Infants whose mothers regularly use language to describe what their child is thinking or feeling, have higher levels of the hormone oxytocin, finds a new study.
Oxytocin, a hormone that is involved in a range of psychological processes, plays an important role in social relationships, such as the development of the bond between a parent and child, and the formation of trust, and social understanding, across the lifespan.
For the research, 62 new mothers aged between 23 and 44 years old, and who had an infant between three and nine months old, were filmed interacting naturally with their baby for five minutes.
The researchers analysed the videos to see how well the mother accurately referred to her infant’s internal experience (e.g., their thoughts, feelings, desires and perceptions) during the interaction.
They also collected saliva samples from the infant and measured the level of the hormone oxytocin.
When the relationship between these two measures was analysed, the researchers found a positive correlation.
Lead author, Dr Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen of UCL, said: “It has long been known that the hormone oxytocin is involved in intimate social relationships, including the attachment bond between a mother and her child. It is also known that how well a mother is attuned to her infant’s thoughts and feelings in the first year of life is a long-term predictor of the child’s social and emotional development. But the pathways underlying these effects have been unclear.
“We have, for the first time, discovered that the amount that a mother talks to their infant about their infant’s thoughts and feelings is directly correlated with their infant’s oxytocin levels. This suggests that oxytocin is involved in regulating children’s early social experience, and this is itself shaped by the way a parent interacts with their infant.”
For example, when a child demonstrates interest in a toy, a parent who displays understanding of their child’s internal state might say “Oh, you like this toy” or “You’re excited” and might imitate their child’s actions or facial expression.
In this way the parent is mirroring the child’s internal experience, and the new results now reveal that this influences the infant’s oxytocin system as well.
The team also found that mothers who were experiencing postnatal depression referred less to their infant’s internal states than mothers who were not experiencing depression.
Dr Lindley Baron-Cohen said: “This study demonstrates a new psychobiological link between mothers and their infant, in which the mother’s emotionally sensitive speech is reflected in her infant’s hormone levels.
“This highlights the key role mothers play in their child’s early development, and indicates how mothers who are experiencing depression could be supported to facilitate their child’s social development.”
System C has completed the national rollout of BadgerNet Maternity across all seven NHS Health Boards in Wales. This is the first time any UK nation has unified its maternity care under a single digital record and patient-facing app.
With approximately 26,000 babies born annually in Wales, BadgerNet connects maternity information across organisational boundaries in the country.
Expectant parents can access their records, maternity appointments and key updates digitally through a single app, wherever they receive care while clinicians have secure access to the right information at the point of care.
The national three-year agreement across all Heath Boards replaces a patchwork of separate local systems and eliminates the need for paper hand-held notes.
Anthony Tracey is director of digital at Hywel Dda University Health Board, the final of the Welsh Health Boards to go live with BadgerNet.
He said: “The rollout of BadgerNet across Wales is a vitally important step forward in modernising our maternity services and providing a consistent service across the country.
“By giving expectant parents direct access to their information and enabling clinicians to share data more effectively, we are strengthening safety, transparency and consistency in maternity care nationwide.”
For expectant parents, the single digital maternity record transforms how they engage with their care.
Instead of carrying paper notes and repeating information at every appointment, parents can access key details, appointments and updates digitally, supporting more informed conversations and shared decision-making.
The result is greater transparency, fewer administrative frustrations and a more joined-up experience throughout pregnancy and into the postnatal period, regardless of which health board they fall under.
For clinicians and Health Boards, the joined-up approach reduces duplication and streamlines handovers across teams and sites. Information is digitally captured once and made available securely wherever it is needed, helping to minimise errors, reduce time spent tracking down notes and support more efficient multidisciplinary working.
At a national level, linking maternity data across Wales creates a foundation for safer, more consistent care.
Aggregated, standardised information enables earlier identification of trends and variation, supports evidence-based policy decisions and enhances long-term service planning.
With a comprehensive view of maternity activity and outcomes across the country, Wales is now better positioned to raise standards for parents, babies and families.
Guy Lucchi, managing director of healthcare at System C, added: “Delivering a truly national approach across all seven Health Boards is a significant achievement for Wales.
“One shared system means information flows with the patient, not the organisation.
“That reduces duplication, supports earlier identification of risk and frees up valuable clinical time.
“Crucially, linking maternity data at a national level provides powerful insight to drive improvement. Health Boards can benchmark, plan services with greater confidence and ensure resources are targeted where they are needed most, while expectant parents benefit from clearer communication and a more connected experience of care.”
Early birth may cut serious complications and stillbirth risk in high blood pressure pregnancies without increasing caesarean rates, a Cochrane review suggests.
Planned early birth after 34 weeks cut serious maternal complications by nearly half compared with watchful waiting, the findings suggest.
It also likely reduced the risk of stillbirth by about 75 per cent, although the authors said this should be interpreted with caution.
Catherine Cluver, senior author of the review and researcher at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, said: “These findings give clinicians and women clearer guidance about the timing of birth when high blood pressure develops in pregnancy.
“For women with pre-eclampsia in particular, the evidence supports offering planned early birth from 34 weeks, and no later than 37 weeks.”
This Cochrane review, led by King’s College London, pooled data from six randomised controlled trials involving 3,491 women.
The trials compared planned early birth after 34 weeks with watchful waiting in women with one or more hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension, are the second leading cause of maternal death globally.
For women with pre-eclampsia, early birth remains the only definitive treatment, as the condition is driven by the placenta and will only resolve once it is delivered.
The trials took place in the Netherlands, UK, US, India and Zambia.
The review found high-certainty evidence that serious maternal complications were nearly halved in women who had planned early birth compared with those managed with watchful waiting.
The finding on stillbirth was based on moderate-certainty evidence and was driven by a single trial in India and Zambia, where stillbirth rates are higher. No stillbirths were recorded in the high-income country trials.
The review also found that planned early birth likely does not increase neonatal unit admission, although this finding was also based on moderate-certainty evidence.
The authors said the maternal benefit held across both high- and low-income settings, suggesting early birth reduces complications even when women are already receiving appropriate monitoring and care.
Alice Beardmore-Gray, lead author of the review and obstetrician at King’s College London, said: “Judging when to offer birth is the question that we battle with clinically every day.”
The authors added that in two of the trials, more than half the women allocated to watchful waiting ended up needing emergency birth before 37 weeks.
They typically gave birth just three to five days later than women allocated to planned early birth and often experienced more complications.
Beardmore-Gray said: “A common misconception is that by waiting longer, mum and baby are gaining more time, but often what you are doing is just delaying an inevitable emergency birth, when both may be in a worse condition.”
The review found high-certainty evidence of no increased risk of caesarean section associated with planned early birth.
Beardmore-Gray said: “That is the first question anyone asks when you offer them an early induction: won’t it increase my risk of a C-section?
“Being able to clearly answer no is a really important piece of information to give women when counselling them about the timing of their birth.”
The authors said the timing of birth should take into account the woman’s preferences and the severity of her condition.
They said these findings are consistent with and reinforce current international guidelines, which recommend that all women with pre-eclampsia should be offered planned early birth no later than 37 weeks.
Women with gestational hypertension or chronic hypertension without severe features may choose to continue with careful monitoring, with planned early birth considered from 39 weeks onwards.
Further research is needed on longer-term outcomes for infants born late preterm and on the long-term cardiovascular health of mothers affected by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Motherhood
Women’s HealthX marks World Maternal Mental Health Day with lineup of maternity care leaders
By Women’s HealthX
In recognition of World Maternal Mental Health Day, Women’s HealthX is placing a spotlight on one of the most urgent and under addressed areas in women’s health: maternal mental health and maternity care innovation.
Worldwide, 1 in 5 new mothers experiences a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, yet up to 7 in 10 hide or downplay their symptoms.
Even within established care frameworks, this creates challenges for timely detection and treatment, highlighting the need for additional tools, insights, and system-level support to prevent long-term consequences for both mother and child.
Women’s HealthX convenes 750+ senior leaders from across the women’s health ecosystem, including pharma & biotech, hospitals, digital health innovators, solution providers, payers, enterprises & policy makers to explore how telehealth, predictive analytics, and digital health platforms are transforming maternal and postnatal care – from AI-driven early risk identification to remote monitoring solutions that keep mothers cognitively and emotionally supported long after they leave the clinic.
Key sessions on Maternity & Maternal Care with key industry leaders:
Key sessions dedicated to maternity and maternal mental health will address critical system challenges and opportunities for innovation, including fragmentation in care delivery, health inequities, and persistent maternal mortality rates in high income countries.
Featured speakers include:
Christina Pardo, medical director, women’s health, Weill Cornell Medicine NewYork Presbyterian, on “Bridge Existing Healthcare Gaps Caused by Fragmentation Between OB/GYN And Birth Workers.”
Gayatri Setia, director of preventive Cardiology, NYCHHC, on “Improve Patient Access to Prevention in Equalities and Discrimination in Maternity and Maternal Care”
Catherine Monk, founding director, Center for the Transition to Parenthood, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, on “Leveraging Developmental Neuroscience to Provide Improved Maternal Care”
Danielle Johnson, chief medical officer, Lindner Center of HOPE, on “Understanding the Scope of Disparities in Perinatal Mental Health”
Kimberley Sampson, chair of OB GYN, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, on “Why Maternal Mortality Persists in High-Income Countries”
Erica Smith, VP value and access, Chiesi, on “Empowering Mothers, Advancing Equity, and Improving Outcomes in Premature Care”
A Call to Action for the Femtech Ecosystem
As femtech continues to mature, maternal mental health represents a critical frontier where technology, data, and clinical insight must converge.
Women’s HealthX provides a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing to accelerate the development and adoption of solutions that deliver measurable impact for mothers and families.
From predictive analytics to personalized, continuous care models, the event underscores a central theme: meaningful transformation in women’s health begins with better data, stronger evidence, and cross sector collaboration.
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Only 9 days left to register for your chance to win a therapeutic massage at Encore Boston
Women’s HealthX is where the transformation of women’s health begins at its true foundation: data, science, and evidence.
About Women’s HealthX
Women’s HealthX is where the transformation of women’s health begins at its true foundation: data, science, and evidence.
It’s the leading event dedicated to closing the sex difference data gap and accelerating breakthroughs through science driven, real world case studies.
Taking place on December 3 to 4, 2026 in Boston, USA, the exhibition will bring together more than 750 healthcare leaders, including clinicians, payers, employers, investors, and policymakers.
7 different stages across 2 days with 150+ expert speakers taking an holistic approach to women’s health.
From fertility, maternity, sexual health, cognitive health, menopause and chronic disease, we address care at every stage of a woman’s life.
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