Maternal care is indispensable for survival of neonates in mammals. Lactating females consume a large amount of energy for nurturing their pups by lactation. Management of energy expenditure through lactation is important for survival of themselves and pups. We previously reported that the orexigenic neuropeptide neuropeptide Y in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) regulated maternal care, depending on food intakes of lactating females. In the present study, we investigated the neuronal mechanism for regulating maternal care by melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors (MC 3/4R), which was regulated by the anorexigenic neuropeptide alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and the orexigenic neuropeptide agouti-related peptide (AgRP) in an opposing manner. Neuronal processes immunoreactive to adrenocorticotropic hormone, which was a precursor of α-MSH, or AgRP, were distributed in the DRN. Furthermore, the pre-synaptic marker synaptophysin was co-localized with ACTH or AgRP in the DRN. We next investigated how the MC3/4R antagonist SHU 9119 affected maternal care. Injection of 100 pmol SHU 9119 into the DRN prevented maternal care in fed dams. Additionally, we examined whether the agonist melanotan II could affect maternal care following fasting for 8 h. Fasting for 8 h abolished maternal care in lactating females. But injection of 100 pmol melanotan II into the DRN partially recovered maternal care. These results indicate that MC3/4R signaling in the DRN regulates maternal care depending on feed intake in lactating mice.