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Evolution-informed maternal–infant health

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 1, Article number: 0073 (2017) Cite this article

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Can applying an evolutionary perspective generate effective change in clinical care and/or public health policy? An evolution-informed research programme has changed practice on UK post-natal units and UK health policies on infant care over the past two decades.

Human infants are secondarily altricial mammals, requiring close contact with a carer for safety and warmth, and frequent feeding by mothers who produce milk that is low in fat and high in sugar, and thus quickly digested. The rapid post-natal brain growth of human infants involves a high degree of active sleep, frequent night-waking, and no circadian rhythm for several months. This view of early infancy and new motherhood requires us to consider mother–infant biology as a complex and inter-related outcome of a particular evolutionary history. We therefore emphasize that, to be effective, health-care policies and practices should support the optimum functioning of this dyadic evolved biology in contemporary contexts. Moreover, evolutionary parental-investment theory helps us to understand that, although they are two parts of an integrated biological system, the mother–infant relationship is not necessarily harmonious; tension exists between the needs of the highly dependent human infant and the willingness or ability of the mother (who shares only half of its genes) to respond to those needs, resulting in trade-offs in the management of infant care.

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Figure 1: Bed-sharing is strongly associated with breastfeeding continuation.
Figure 2: Breastfeeding mothers sleep with their babies in a characteristic way.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Helen L. Ball is at the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.,

    Helen L. Ball

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  1. Helen L. Ball
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Correspondence to Helen L. Ball.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Ball, H. Evolution-informed maternal–infant health. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 0073 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0073

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0073

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