“The Love Hormone:” What does oxytocin do for us?    

If you’ve ever forayed into the study of the human body, especially the female body, then no doubt you’ve heard of “the love hormone”: oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone made by the hypothalamus in your brain and then released by the pituitary gland. It plays a major role in sex, labor, childbirth, placenta delivery, and breastfeeding, making it a particularly important hormone for women.

I first became interested in oxytocin when I was about to do what millions of other women have done – have a baby. Like many others before me, I learned about the fascinating changes that my body would go through, and the complex web of body systems at play in my child’s prenatal development. That first time around, I learned about oxytocin more from what I might call a medical perspective. I learned that oxytocin plays a role in labor and birth, and when it fails (or doesn’t function quickly enough for medical providers), synthetic oxytocin – Pitocin or Syntocinon – is employed to induce or quicken labor, speed up the delivery of the afterbirth, and reduce heavy postpartum bleeding. The next time around, I’d come a long way from my first pregnancy and decided to give birth to our second baby at home rather than in the hospital. I learned there are natural ways (more on this later!) to induce labor and encourage placental delivery and, if things are done from the start to encourage optimal oxytocin release, significantly decrease risk of postpartum bleeding.  

Oxytocin bonds couples

So what exactly does oxytocin do? Oxytocin plays a major role in sex. It’s nicknamed “the love hormone” because it is released during many different kinds of physical touch, but particularly sex. It affects sexual arousal, bonding, and formation of trust, particularly between romantic partners, and aids the production of testosterone and the movement of sperm in men. Interestingly enough, in 2012 researchers found that a couple’s level of commitment correlated with the levels of this hormone in their blood: the higher and more stable the oxytocin levels, the more committed the couple. Most likely, this is because couples who are proactive in strengthening their relationship will, throughout their lives and not just at the beginning of the relationship , look into each other’s eyes when speaking, hold hands, cuddle, kiss, go on dates to dimly-lit restaurants, have sex frequently, and build trust together – all of which either directly influence or facilitate the release of oxytocin. Oxytocin isn’t just released as part of a chemical-physical reaction; it is a glue that binds people together, providing a solid, physiological basis for trust and lifelong commitment in a relationship.

Oxytocin bonds moms and babies

This bonding effect of oxytocin does not just apply to romantic relationships, however. Oxytocin does a great deal to bind mother and baby together. It does this first through stimulating contractions in the uterus when the mother is going into labor. The “positive feedback mechanism” of childbirth involves the uterus contracting through the release of oxytocin, which causes the baby to press on the woman’s cervix, which in turn signals the brain to release more oxytocin. Pitocin, or synthetic oxytocin, is often used to strengthen contractions, especially when labor has stalled, but there are many other natural ways to stimulate the release of oxytocin. One is nipple stimulation (or simply just breastfeeding, if you have another child who is still breastfeeding), and another is sex (if your water hasn’t broken).

Other gentle ways to encourage oxytocin release are simply to cuddle or embrace your partner during labor, dim the lights, and listen to soothing music. In the words of Kristin Uvnas Moberg, who specializes in oxytocin research, it is “a system activator and often influences the release of other signaling substances such as opioids, serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.” In other words, by stimulating other body systems, oxytocin helps your whole body to respond to pain, improve memory, increase concentration, and focus, and reduce stress. 

If hospitals tried to encourage the natural functions of the body, like the release of the body’s own oxytocin, might we see a decrease in C-sections (25% of “low-risk” mothers have C-sections in the U.S.) and maternal mortality (the U.S.’s mortality rate is one of the highest in developed countries)?

Oxytocin and doulas

Evidence suggests that one of the best ways to increase oxytocin release in the body during labor is employing a doula. Besides providing emotional and physical support and advocating for the needs and desires of the mother, a doula provides a secure attachment for the mother – creating a safe space, so to speak, within which the mom can relax and feel supported. This in turn encourages the release of oxytocin, or the “hormone of attachment.” The fact that doulas have been shown to decrease Cesarean births by 39% and increase spontaneous vaginal births by 15% underlines their efficacy and speaks volumes about the importance of the environment necessary to promote oxytocin release.

Oxytocin and breastfeeding

Finally, oxytocin is the star of the biological function that begins immediately following labor and childbirth – breastfeeding. When the baby begins to nurse, this stimulates the brain to release oxytocin (remember nipple stimulation during labor!), which causes the milk ducts to release milk. This response of course causes the baby to nurse more, which then triggers more oxytocin! Interestingly enough, both mothers and babies release oxytocin during breastfeeding, and it is thought that this oxytocin release by the baby encourages social bonding and communication. At the very least, the baby forms significant emotional and physiological bonds with the mother via oxytocin. 

Immediate skin-to-skin contact (also known as kangaroo care) and breastfeeding after birth cause release of oxytocin in the mother, which in turn does three things. It helps the placenta to be birthed (this process is called the third stage of labor), helps the uterus contract back to normal size, and thus helps prevent serious postpartum bleeding. Since low levels of oxytocin have been linked to postpartum depression, some researchers hypothesize that oxytocin release during breastfeeding aids in lowering the risk of postpartum depression as well. 

Is oxytocin all you need?

The love hormone, the hormone of attachment, the cuddle chemical- call it what you will, oxytocin is a versatile, powerful chemical. “All you need is love,” according to an old Beatles song. A more accurate, but admittedly less catchy, lyric (for women especially) might have been “All you need is oxytocin”! 

Additional Reading:

So you’re going to give birth in the United States…what are your options?

The 6 things every woman considering a natural childbirth needs to know

Vaginal seeding: the controversial postpartum trend for C-section moms

How to have difficult conversations about sex