Science explains why the smell of a newborn is so addictive

Is there anything more exciting than seeing a mother with a newborn baby in her arms? Perhaps this is the image that best translates the true essence of love. However, what this mother does not know is that when she smells her son or daughter, internal mechanisms are activated and she receives an unconscious impulse that makes her unconditionally protect this helpless baby. A medical study found that the scent released by newborns is the result of clever genetic manipulation developed by nature over thousands of years of human evolution.

We, from awesome.club, we are always surprised by human nature, so we gathered some very interesting data about this study. If you are a mother or about to become one, get ready to know in detail what happens to a woman when she smells her baby.

It’s curious how mothers are always repeating that their babies smell good. What most of them don’t know is that this scent is totally natural. A study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology explains that it causes an almost addictive effect in the mother’s brain, similar to that produced by drugs. That is, a feeling of pleasure and complete happiness that ensures that the bond between mother and child is indestructible.

The scientists selected 30 women for the study: 15 had recently become mothers and the other 15 had no children. They were asked to try to identify, with their eyes closed, different aromasincluding that of a newborn baby.

While the test was being carried out, the women’s brains were monitored using MRI scans. The researchers realized that the mothers quickly identified the baby’s scent by an increase in dopamine levels in the brain region, a substance associated with the reward for learning. The same happens with the smell of delicious food or even sexual stimuli.

The feeling of happiness is associated with serotonin, which acts in our brain as a natural antidepressant. Dopamine is a similar neurotransmitter that is activated when a person feels well-being or pleasure🇧🇷 In addition, this substance has other functions, including the production of breast milk.

Dopamine makes the mother’s brain always happy next to the baby, without allowing her to get emotionally tired of him. Despite the tiredness of the first months, the mother experiences a kind of ‘addiction’, an enormous need to be close to the newborn, to take care of him and feed him. This wonderful mechanism is activated precisely because of the aroma released by the baby.

French obstetrician Michel Odent explains that women rely on the help of 3 special hormones: dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. They play a very important role in creating a bond between mother and child during labor and after birth.

Oxytocin is responsible for the entire female physiological mechanism at the time of childbirth (uterine contractions, expulsion of the placenta, milk production, etc.), in addition to also influencing the mother’s behavior. What happens is almost a process of instant love between mother and baby.

High levels of serotonin and dopamine also play an important role in this beautiful process. The discharge is so strong that the childbirth experience divides a woman’s life into a before and an after.

In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the mechanism of maternal love is part of a cycle which begins at the moment of conception, extends throughout the pregnancy and reaches its peak during childbirth, when the mother holds her baby for the first time and smells her scent. Everything is a great natural process that ensures a deep bond of love and attachment between mother and child that lasts a lifetime.

On the other hand, the baby also does its part🇧🇷 At birth, all your senses are on alert, although your vision only reaches 20 cm (precisely the distance that exists between mother and child at the time of breastfeeding). In this first look, the whole process is triggered: we are programmed to love from the moment we are born and the first object of unconditional love is always our mother. Isn’t it amazing?

You’re a mother? How was the first date with your baby? Tell us about your experience in the comments section!