Maternal and Neonatal Hair Cortisol Levels and Psychological Stress Are Associated With Onset of Secretory Activation of Human Milk Production Caparros González, Rafael Arcángel Romero González, Borja González Pérez, Raquel Lara-Cinisomo, Sandraluz Martín-Tortosa, Pablo L. Oliver-Roig, Antonio Peralta Ramírez, María Isabel Background: Several factors can influence the production of human milk. Purpose: To assess the influence of maternal psychological stress, maternal cortisol levels, and neonatal hair cortisol levels on the production of human milk. Methods: A prospective study was conducted at 2 public health centers in Andalusia, Spain. Participants were 60 pregnant women and their 60 neonates. Hair cortisol levels and psychological stress (pregnancy-specific stress [PDQ], perceived stress [PSS]), was evaluated during the third trimester and the postpartum period. Results: Higher PDQ scores during the third trimester were associated with later human milk production (P < 0.05). Higher PSS scores in the third trimester were associated with later human milk production (P < 0.05). Higher postpartum maternal hair cortisol levels were associated with a delayed secretory activation of human milk (P < 0.05). Implications for Research: Future studies should study the influence of psychological stress and cortisol levels on the variety of hormones involved in human milk production. Implications for Practice: Neonatal nurses and other health care providers are encouraged to should be familiar with the level of maternal prenatal stress and how much stress neonates were exposed to before birth. 2024-01-23T12:45:13Z 2024-01-23T12:45:13Z 2019-01 journal article Published version: DOI: 10.1097/ANC.0000000000000660 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/87164 10.1097/ANC.0000000000000660 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional