Prenatal trajectories of birthing parents’ brain responses to infant cues and their association with postpartum parenting behaviors

Abstract While prior research has linked brain responses in late pregnancy to caregiving quality, no study has examined how neural responses to infant cues change across gestation and relate to postpartum parenting. Using fNIRS, we measured prefrontal responses to infant cues each trimester in 76 birthing parents (M = 29.49 years; 62.2% White, 14.9% Black, 16.2% other). Greater increases in right DLPFC and VMPFC responsivity to infant cries predicted more sensitive parenting, while increases in DLPFC responses to happy faces predicted greater parental structuring. Findings suggest a gradual, lateralized tuning of prefrontal systems to emotionally salient infant cues beginning early in gestation. Results highlight pregnancy as a sensitive window to support emerging caregiving capacities and inform early interventions for expectant parents.