Women who cradle baby on their right arm ‘are more prone to depression’
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE
29th August 2007

Mothers who cradle a baby with their right arm are more likely to be suffering from stress than those who use their left say scientists.

The way a mother holds her baby holds clues to her mental health, scientists claim.

Those who cradle a baby with their right arm are more likely to be suffering from stress than those who use their left.

The British research team who performed the study say the findings could help identify women at risk of depression.

In the past, scientists have found that most parents cradle children on their left-hand side, regardless of whether they are right or lefthanded.

But so far the reason remains a mystery.

Some believe that left-sided cuddling places a child’s head next to their parent’s heart and that the sound of a heart beat can be comforting. Others argue that the preference is linked to the structure of the brain.

The left side of the body is controlled by the right half of the brain – the side that deals with emotions and intuition.

The latest study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, looked at the behaviour of 79 new mothers in their own homes.

The mothers were asked to pick up their babies and cradle them in their arms naturally, and were also quizzed on their mental state.

Forty-four of the mothers were showing signs of baby-related stress.

Among these women, 32 per cent used their right arm to hold their child.

Of those who reported no symptoms of stress or depression, just 14 per cent cradled their babies on their right side.

Although the numbers taking part in the study were small, the scientists say the results are statistically significant.

Lead researcher Dr Nadja Reissland, a senior lecturer in psychiatry at Durham University, said the findings could help better identify mothers in a fragile mental state.

“We have all seen pictures of Princess Diana – she always cradled to the right,” she said.

“However it is a tendency – not an absolute and just because a woman cradles on the right it does not mean she is stressed.”

Dr Reissland’s findings echo a study published earlier this year by a team at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

In that experiment, female volunteers were asked to plunge their hands into a bucket of freezing water before picking up a doll to cuddle.

The cold water was used to put the women under stress without causing any long-term damage.

The Swiss researchers found that the stressed women were far more likely to hold the dolls in their right hands than the women not put through the cold water treatment.

Dr Reissland said the reasons why stressed mothers were more likely to cuddle on the right were unclear.

She is following up with an experiment looking at women taking babies for vaccination.

“Many mothers don’t realise they are suffering from stress, or don’t want to admit they are,” said Dr Reissland.

“The way they interact with their child is usually the best indicator of their inner mental state.

“These sorts of feelings can have a huge impact on the relationship between the mother and baby and on the family as a whole.

“If this stress develops into depression, then the situation can be even worse.”