A PREGNANT woman is on a nine-month hormonal roller coaster—and it
turns out that the father of her child goes along for the ride. Researchers in
Canada have shown for the first time that expectant fathers’ hormones also
fluctuate, and that the way they change mimics their partners’ ups and
downs.
During pregnancy, levels of several hormones rise in an expectant mother.
These include prolactin, which triggers lactation; the stress hormone cortisol,
which is known to be related to a mother’s attraction to her child; and the main
female sex hormone, oestradiol. Immediately after the birth, the levels crash.…
