Oxytocin levels during breast-feeding in established lactation
- Resource Type
- Authors
- A. Bowen-Jones; J. Dogterom; R.F. Drewett
- Source
- Hormones and behavior. 16(2)
- Subject
- medicine.medical_specialty
Milk ejection
Oxytocin
Behavioral Neuroscience
Endocrinology
Pregnancy
Internal medicine
Lactation
medicine
Humans
Milk Ejection
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
business.industry
Infant
Radioimmunoassay
medicine.disease
Vycor glass
medicine.anatomical_structure
Breast Feeding
Female
business
Breast feeding
hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists
medicine.drug
- Language
- ISSN
- 0018-506X
Serial blood samples were taken from eight lactating women while they were nursing their babies 1–4 months postpartum, and from four lactating controls while they were not nursing. The plasma was assayed for oxytocin by radioimmunoassay after extraction with activated Vycor glass powder. In the suckling mothers mean plasma oxytocin rose from 5.4 pg/ml before nursing to 13.0 pg/ml during nursing. Oxytocin levels changed rapidly from minute to minute, with individual peaks as high as 54 pg/ml. Oxytocin levels in the control mothers averaged 4.4 pg/ml.