The Love Hormone: Oxytocin
February 13, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under medication, scientific studies
In men and women, oxytocin is released during orgasm. In women, it helps the uterus contract during labor and after the birth, and it triggers the letdown (milk-ejection) reflex that transmits breast milk through the milk ducts toward the nipple for breastfeeding. The hypothalamus works with the pituitary gland in the brain to regulate oxytocin levels.
Oxytocin is used in the synthetic form Pitocin to induce labor, and it can be used as a nasal spray to induce letdown during breastfeeding. Thomas W. Hale, Ph.D. warns in Medications and Mothers’ Milk that “chronic use of intranasal oxytocin may lead to dependence …read more
