부산대학교 도서관

AIM:: The aim of this study was to verify the influence of mother to child skin-to-skin contact and the ability of 2-day-old infants to recognise their own motherʼs axillary odour. METHODS:: We tested the responses of 19 vaginally delivered, breastfeeding newborns to their mothersʼ axillary odours using a paired-choice test. The eight males and 11 females were exposed to their own motherʼs axillary odour and the odour of another unfamiliar new mother taking part in the study, and their responses to each woman were taped for 60 sec. We did this by assessing how long their heads were orientated towards pads carrying the scents of their mothers and the unfamiliar women. RESULTS:: The average time that the infantsʼ heads were orientated towards the olfactory stimulus of their own mothers was 20.53 sec, which was significantly longer than the 11.13 sec recorded for the unfamiliar women (p < 0.05). In addition, this orientation increased significantly with the newborn infantsʼ age in hours (Spearmanʼs Rho = 0.58, p < 0.01) and their recognition time significantly decreased (Spearmanʼs Rho = −0.52, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION:: Two-day-old breastfeeding newborn infants who experienced skin-to-skin contact with their mothers were able to recognise their axillary odour.