Kangaroo care and postpartum depression: The role of oxytocin

Postpartum depression occurs in about 10-22% of women after birth and adversely affects their health and the health of their newborn. Kangaroo care is known to have many health-related benefits for both the mother and her newborn.

The aim of this review was to gather the evidence linking the effects of kangaroo care with postpartum depression, specifically focusing on the proposed underlying mechanism involving the release of oxytocin.

The literature review was conducted by targeting PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar databases. The search terms used were postpartum depression, postnatal depression, oxytocin, oxytocin hormone, postpartum depression, kangaroo care, and skin-to-skin contact.

Kangaroo care was found to play an important role in decreasing the risk for postpartum depression. Skin-to-skin contact during kangaroo care was found to trigger the release of oxytocin, which is hypothesized to minimize the risk for depressive symptoms as well as decrease maternal stress. The oxytocinergic system regulates the release of oxytocin, which is an effect that is opposite that which occurs with the human stress response, in which the sympathetic nervous system is activated to release catecholamines in response to harmful or threatening stimuli. The oxytocinergic system regulates calmness, connection, and socialization processes. During kangaroo care, oxytocin blocks the stress response and decreases the circulation of catecholamines, yielding positive outcomes that include maternal stress reduction and prevention of postpartum depression.

Kangaroo care can be used as a non-pharmacological intervention to prevent or decrease the risk of postpartum depression.