What is nesting instinct during pregnancy?

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Big cleaning… also in your social relationships

According to a 2013 Canadian study published in the journal Evolution & Human Behaviour, this need, also known as nesting, is not so crazy after all. “It is the result of an instinctive mechanism that drives us to protect the baby that is coming,” explains Dr. Marla Anderson of McMaster University in Canada’s department of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour. “Anthropological studies show that environmental control is a key feature of human preparation for childbirth, including decisions about where to give birth and who will be welcome in the birthing environment,” she says. And this nesting instinct does not only manifest itself in material and practical matters. According to the study’s researchers, it is not uncommon for women to become more selective in their relationships towards the end of their pregnancy. Away with the toxic girlfriends, so to speak.

Biological vs Sexist

Marla Anderson argues that nesting should be taken seriously: “Providing a safe environment promotes bonding between mother and child,” she writes in an article in Science Daily. Other scientists, however, question the existence of this biological instinct. Arianne Shahvisi, a doctor in philosophy of physics, writes in the journal Psyche: “In my research, I found only one study that suggested that women clean and tidy more during the third trimester of pregnancy.” She argues that “biologizing” the rituals of domestic life could pose a real problem for gender equality, since nesting suggests that housework is in the female genes. “If housework is hormonal, then it’s not sexist that women do most of the work. Conservatives can hide behind the idea that nature made us this way.”

Sources:
https://www.mcmaster.ca
https://www.sciencedaily.com
https://psyche.co