Moms aren't the only ones whose bodies change after having a baby. Jeremy Adam Smith reveals the new science of fatherhood.
Gopal Dayaneni is a stay-at-home father in Oakland, California. He still recalls the first time he gave a bottle to his six-week-old daughter, Ila. "I sat down with her in a rocking chair," he says. "She totally took the bottle, right up against my body, comfortable and warm. She looked up at me and I was so taken with her."
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The scientific study of the social practice of fathers parenting the children leads to interesting new information on hormones and brains, in addition to social aspects and the effects on children. An ideal story for the after-shadow of fathers' day.
pregnancy, childbirth, and fatherhood trigger a range of little hormonal shifts in the male body—but only if the father is in contact with the baby and the baby’s mother. When a child is born, Wynne-Edwards found, testosterone levels drop dramatically in men. Men also gain prolactin, the hormone associated with lactation, as well as cortisol, the stress hormone that spikes in mothers after childbirth and helps them pay attention to the baby’s needs.
As a father/grandfather I am conflicted over all these hormonal and brain changes. I don't know whether to lactate or have a hot flash...