Papers
Nurturescience has been introduced to the scientific community in peer-reviewed publications. For those who want to read the actual articles and the scientific detail, download below. The background of this work is *separation* of mothers and babies – and our cultural belief that this is okay. It is not. The first paper describes this in detail. The key public health message is *Zero Separation*.
Birth practices: Maternal-neonate separation as a source of toxic stress.
Bergman NJ. Birth Defects Research, 2019 Vol 111(15):1087-110
The second paper takes a more positive terminology … not what is the bad we must avoid, but what is the good we want to achieve. Neuroscience made assumptions based on separation, and on a philosophy and culture that might well have been influenced by minds and brains that were separated at birth! Nurture is indeed so essential as to deserve its own science, hence the single word *nurturescience*.
Nurturescience versus neuroscience: A case for rethinking perinatal mother-infant behaviors and relationship”. Bergman NJ, Ludwig RJ, Westrup B, Welch MG. Birth Defects Research, 2019 Vol 111(15):1110-1127
That our culture thinks it is okay to separate mothers and babies has an explanation. The following article describes this briefly, also in the context of birth practices related to Kangaroo Mother Care, which starts with skin-to-skin contact but also breastfeeding, and basic care beginning with good hygiene.
“Historical background to maternal-neonate separation and neonatal care”.
Bergman NJ. Birth Defects Research, 2019 Vol 111(15):1081-1086