Neural mechanisms underlying maternal separation-evoked postpartum depression and hypogalactia in lactating rats

Efforts to breastfeed the babies for more than 6 months are the recommendation of WHO and the wishes of most of the mothers. However, many factors can cause maternal separation from the babies, leading to the failure of breastfeeding and postpartum mental disorders. To alleviate this condition, many measures have been applied, such as using milk pumps for regular hour workers, reducing heavy duty of service mothers and applying milk-producing drugs, and they do have limited effects; however, that is far from the expectations of mothers and high standards of modern Medicare. Thus, fully understanding the mechanisms underlying postpartum depression and hypogalactia evoked by mother-baby separation is essential for identification of the potential targets of medical mediation and for designation of more efficient therapies. Here we report that intermittent separation of mothers from their babies in lactating rats could result in significant reduction of dams’ interests toward their offspring as shown in an elongation of the retrieval latency of pups and decreases in the frequency of anogenital licking