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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Using Chronic Social Stress to Model Postpartum Depression in Lactating Rodents
Published on: June 10, 2013
Interactive effects of parity and pup stress on the maternal behavior of Rattus norvegicus
Litters of primiparous and multiparous rat mothers received 0,2, or 5 min of cold stress for the 1st 5 days postpartum. Primiparae showed increasing maternal responsiveness over the treatment period. Multiparae were initially maternally responsive to moderate stress cues from pups, but habituated to them over days. From Days 6 to 20, when pups were not stressed, lactation behavior of stressed groups declined in primiparous mothers but not in multiparous mothers.
Litters of primiparous and multiparous rat mothers received 0,2, or 5 min of cold stress for the 1st 5 days postpartum. Primiparae showed increasing maternal responsiveness over the treatment period. Multiparae were initially maternally responsive to moderate stress cues from pups, but habituated to them over days. From Days 6 to 20, when pups were not stressed, lactation behavior of stressed groups declined in primiparous mothers but not in multiparous mothers.
