The importance of mothers is highlighted in every culture and written word in human history. “A mother’s touch”, “a mother’s intuition”, “a face only a mother could love” are phrases that we use without even thinking about, but evidence shows that they are far from empty words
A Jewish proverb claims, “God could not be everywhere, so he made mothers.” An Arabic proverb says, “The mother is a school; if she is well-reared, you are sure to build a nation.” And throughout the centuries, mothers have always defined roles, shaped lives and built communities.
But motherhood is under attack. Politicians are unable to define what a woman is, traditional families are being targeted by activists wanting to “smash heteronormativity” and many more want to legalise commercial surrogacy. The transgender children’s charity Mermaids is sponsoring a conference on surrogacy – after all when you’re creating a whole generation of sterile children, you’ve got to be able offer the opportunity of buying a family too…
But mothers shouldn’t just be written out of the equation in the quest for anyone to be able to have a baby at any cost. Mothers matter – and how a baby is nurtured from the womb, throughout childhood has a massive impact on how successful that child will be as an adult.
As author and psychologist Steve Biddulf states: “It now appears that mother-baby interaction, in the first year especially, is the very foundation of human emotions and intelligence. In the most essential terms, love grows the brain. The capacities for what make us most human—empathy, co-operation, intimacy, the fine timing and sensitivity that makes a human being charismatic, loving, and self-assured— are passed from mother to baby, especially if that mother is herself possessed of these qualities, and supported and cared for, so that she can bring herself to enjoy and focus on the task.”
Despite everyone knowing at heart how important mothers are, there are many seeking to downplay their role in raising children. So, in celebration of mothers on International Women’s Day, here are 10 reasons why mothers are amazing, awe-inspiring and essential:
- Growing a baby is a super-power. A mother’s uterus expands to 20 times its normal size during pregnancy, the volume of blood in a woman’s body increases by a whopping 50 percent in order to help support the uterus. The amount of blood pumped by the heart increases as well. Women’s bodies grow a whole new organ, i.e., the placenta – a structure that develops in the uterus and provides oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby (while also playing a key role in waste removal).
- Mothers have the ability to solely feed their baby through breastfeeding, and mother’s milk is far superior to any substitute. In 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its policy statement, Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk. It could hardly be more emphatic, citing a large body of evidence in support of the benefits of breastfeeding for child and maternal health: Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding preparations differ markedly from it, making human milk uniquely superior for infant feeding. Exclusive breastfeeding is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short- and long-term outcomes.
- Mothers are hard-wired to hear their own baby crying. Researchers found that mothers all over the world have the same brain response to hearing their baby crying and have the urge to go and care for their baby and soothe them by holding and talking to them.
- After giving birth, a mother’s body is flooded with the hormone oxytocin. More is produced when they breastfeed, cuddle or even look at their babies. Known as the ‘love hormone’ or the ‘cuddle hormone’ oxytocin promotes bonding and attachment. What is interesting is that oxytocin is also released when a mum hears her baby crying and it prompts her to react and give comfort. Over time, the sound-sending neurons in the brain get better at recognising baby’s cries and mums grow more responsive still.
- Cuddles from mum are critical for a baby’s brain development. Scientists were able to compare a set of premature babies in a neonatal intensive care unit in hospital in order to see how cuddling and physical touch affected the babies’ development over time. At three, six, 12, 18 and 24 months, then at five and 10 years, babies were examined to determine how they were sleeping, socializing, and developing. As explained in TIME, the babies who were held one hour each day for two weeks after birth, fared much better: “As babies, they had more organized — or predictable — sleep patterns, steadier respiration and heart rates, and better affective attention — or the ability to direct their gaze and actions toward a goal.”
- Being well-cared for by mothers, especially during early years, impacts a child’s development. Fertility and child expert Professor Lord Robert Winston said: “The evidence on the powerful role of loving nurture in the emotional, social and cognitive development of children is powerful. Infancy is a crucial time for brain development. It is vital that babies and their parents are supported during this time to promote attachment. Without a good initial bond, children are less likely to grow up to become happy, independent and resilient adults.”
- Being separated from their mother, between the ages of birth and two years old, has a profoundly negative impact on a child’s future development. Mothers who sacrifice going back to work fulltime in order to care for their babies have a huge impact on the future success of their child.
- Mums who stay at home in the early years to raise their baby should be highly valued. Studies link young children who spend a lot of time in childcare with behavioural problems and suggest that mothers who stay at home with their children during those early stages offer benefits developmentally for children compared with them being in childcare full-time. Positive news if you’re a sleep deprived mum coping with toddler tantrums!
- The unpaid work of young women aged 18-30, such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children, is worth £140 billion to the UK economy, according to figures calculated from Office of National Statistics data by Young Women’s Trust.
- Women carry out an overall average of 60% more unpaid work than men, ONS analysis has shown. ONS analysis of time use data shows that women put in more than double the proportion of unpaid work when it comes to cooking, childcare and housework.
So let’s hear it for mothers, who not only grow humans, but raise and care for the next generation of adults and contribute a huge amount to society. Don’t forget it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday 27th March!