Oxytocin News and Research

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Oxytocin is a small but potent nine-amino acid hormone secreted within the brain, from the hypothalamus.

Natural birth better for bonding baby and mother

American researchers are suggesting that natural birth may make mothers more responsive to their babies than those who choose to have a Caesarean.

4 Sep 2008

Natural childbirth makes mothers more responsive to own baby-cry

A new study has found that mothers who delivered vaginally compared to caesarean section delivery (CSD) were significantly more responsive to the cry of their own baby, identified through MRI brain scans two to four weeks after delivery.

2 Sep 2008

Oxytocin hormone plays role in social bonding and maternal behaviors

Oxytocin was originally studied as the "milk let-down factor," i.e., a hormone that was necessary for breast-feeding. However, there is increasing evidence that this hormone also plays an important role in social bonding and maternal behaviors.

28 Jul 2008

Oxytocin may inhibit social phobia

Swedish and British scientists have shown using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that the hormone oxytocin can inhibit feelings of anxiety in specific individuals. Their discovery might lead to a better understanding and the improved treatment of psychiatric affections in which people feel distressed when meeting others, such as in cases of autism and social phobia.

20 Jul 2008

Suckling infants trigger surges of trust hormone in mothers' brains

Researchers from the University of Warwick, in collaboration with other universities and institutes in Edinburgh, France and Italy, have for the first time been able to show exactly how, when a baby suckles at a mother's breast, it starts a chain of events that leads to surges of the "trust" hormone oxytocin being released in their mothers brains.

17 Jul 2008

Many pregnant women do not feel well informed by their gynaecologist

A survey carried out among 250 pregnant women showed that 24% of them do not feel adequately informed by their gynaecologist, and almost half do not take part in any prenatal course. The study, prepared by the Head of the Obstetrics Department at the Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Madrid, Miguel Angel Herraiz, also showed that 80% of those surveyed prefer a "medicalised" birth, with epidural anaesthesia, to a natural birth.

17 Jul 2008

Cord traction removal of placenta safer than hand method after Caesareans

In Caesarean deliveries the placenta is usually removed by hand or by a technique known as 'cord traction'. A recent systematic review by Cochrane Researchers shows that cord traction poses less risk to the mother than manual removal.

16 Jul 2008

New insights into the neural circuitry of trust

The brain centers triggered by a betrayal of trust have been identified by researchers, who found they could suppress such triggering and maintain trust by administering the brain chemical oxytocin. The researchers said their findings not only offer basic insights into the neural machinery underlying trust; the results may also help in understanding the neural basis of social disorders such as phobias and autism.

21 May 2008

Breastfeeding may protect women from rheumatoid arthritis

Swedish researchers have found in a study on rheumatoid arthritis that breastfeeding protects women from the disease.

13 May 2008

Intensive training for medical staff in Latin American hospitals reduces serious complication of pregnancy

An intensive educational program for physicians and midwives involving 19 hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay dramatically reduced the rate of postpartum hemorrhage, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

1 May 2008

Oxytocin hormone promotes bonding

Gazing into your lover's eyes isn't only romantic; it may also mimic early attachments that forever alter your brain and body.

11 Feb 2008

Stress causes whole body deterioration

Stress, to put it bluntly, is bad for you. It can kill you, in fact. A study now reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer.

9 Jan 2008

One sniff may clear away that awful phobia!

Scientists from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, have found that a simple nasal spray may help people deal with irrational fears.

23 Oct 2007

Hormone oxytocin predicts level of bonding between mother and child

Humans are hard-wired to form enduring bonds with others. One of the primary bonds across the mammalian species is the mother-infant bond. Evolutionarily speaking, it is in a mother's best interest to foster the well-being of her child; however, some mothers just seem a bit more maternal than others do.

16 Oct 2007

Sildenafil increases release of key reproductive hormone oxytocin

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report this month that sildenafil increases the amount of oxytocin released by stimulation of the posterior pituitary gland, a small structure directly underneath the brain that regulates hormone levels in response to neural signals.

24 Aug 2007

Dutch research project designed to reduce maternal and child mortality

Top Institute Pharma, which carries out pioneering research projects with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Health in order to develop better and safer medicines, is starting a unique research project designed to reduce maternal and child mortality.

20 Jun 2007