Do you have a close relationship with your mother? If not, you’re more likely to have problems bonding with your own baby

Women with lower levels of 'love hormone' are more likely to have had a dysfunctional relationship with their mother

• Those women tend to experience negative feelings towards their own babies

If you had a dysfunctional relationship with your mother it could mean you are more likely to have problems bonding with your own babies.

Lower levels of the 'love hormone' oxytocin have been found in women who are not close with their own mother, a report suggests.  

Women with lower oxytocin levels were more likely to experience negative feelings towards their babies, which include resentment, depression and separation anxiety.   

The findings could be useful in identifying at-risk mothers and helping them break the cycle so mums can develop these crucial bonds, says first author of the paper, UNSW professor Valsamma Eapen, chair of infant, child and adolescent psychiatry.

Professor Eapen and colleagues are now focusing on the application of the theory of attachment to assist women with troubled maternal relationships bond with their babies.

'What we are now developing is attachment-based cognitive behavioural therapy for mums to reframe their own perspectives and attitudes to fix problems that have been pre-programmed,' he said.

He anticipates this type of therapy could be used on its own or in combination with a synthetic version of oxytocin, in the form of a puffer or nasal spray.

For the study published in PLOS ONE, Professor Eapen and colleagues followed 680 pregnant women at Sydney's Liverpool Hospital.

From this group they selected 100 women - half of whom reported troubled relationships with their mothers, while the others reported close childhood ties with their mother.

Blood samples were taken before and three months after birth to measure oxytocin levels.

The women also completed a range of questionnaires to assess their early relationship with their parents, with others and with their newborn.

The group with troubled maternal relationships showed a clear deficit in oxytocin, Eapen said. 

Oxytocin triggers a dopamine reward response in the brain that promotes newborn bonding as a pleasurable activity.

In the baby, this bonding sets lifelong oxytocin release pathways that, if compromised, will influence the child's own future attachment relationships, he said.

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A group of 100 women were selected - half of whom reported troubled relationships with their mothers, while the others reported close childhood ties with their mother

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Blood samples were taken before and three months after birth to measure oxytocin levels

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Women with lower oxytocin levels were more likely to experience negative feelings towards their babies, which include resentment, depression and separation anxiety

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