Oxytocin Release During Postpartum: How the “Love Hormone” Can Support Postpartum Wellness
“Whatever the facet of love we consider, oxytocin is involved.” -Michele Odent
This month felt pretty heavy for a lot of mamas in my life— between the wildfires in Maui, unplanned c-sections, and planned c-sections with extended NICU stays, there were a lot of mamas with an early postpartum that was very different than imagined. Oxytocin is just one of many important factors during this time, but it is something that can make a big difference for mothers, fathers, babies, and families if its production is protected and encouraged.
Although there are always unexpected events in this life, repair is always possible. I thought it felt especially important to chat about this month. Below I’ll give a little overview of oxytocin and its role, ways that it might be hindered, and some ideas for promoting its release.
What Is Oxytocin and What Does It Do?
Oxytocin, often known as the love hormone, is a feel-good hormone that is essential during the childbearing year. It is present in the making of babies (connection with partner and orgasm), is crucial for the birth of babies (uterine contractions and increasing pain tolerance), and continues to be extremely important in the early days of life with a newborn.
After your baby is born, oxytocin is one of the most important hormones in action for you and your baby. It continues to facilitate the contraction of your uterus, helping it to start to return to its pre-pregnancy size and stop any bleeding. It is a major player in successful breastfeeding— oxytocin receptors in your breast tissue assist with the milk ejection reflex (the letting down of milk into your breast). It is also critical for attachment and bonding between you and your baby. Oxytocin is controlled via a positive feedback loop, meaning the hormone facilitates more of its own release— the more you make oxytocin, the more oxytocin you make.
The Shy Hormone- Barriers to Oxytocin Release
Many things can thwart the production of oxytocin. If you are in a stressful environment it can hinder the release of oxytocin. Michele Odent refers to oxytocin as “the shy hormone”, meaning that you need to feel safe to release it. In postpartum this can look like being alone with your baby, being hungry, not having the chance to rest and bond with your baby, or even having people in your space that you don’t feel safe with, in other words, feeling stressed can block oxytocin release.
How can we promote oxytocin production?
The good news is, that there are many things we can do to support oxytocin in you and your baby! Here are a few.
Ensure you have nourishing, nutrient-dense food ready. This way, your body isn’t getting stress signals that it is without food while it is healing, breastfeeding, and rearranging your entire brain. This could look like:
Freezer stock
Meal trains
Not being shy about asking your friends and family to bring you a meal or a gift card to a local spot
Hired help
Make your environment warm. Warmth facilitates the release of oxytocin— feeling warm and cozy supports relaxation and increases your blood flow instead of feeling cold or shivering, which restricts your blood vessels.
Get some loving touch. This can include:
Being close to your baby, breastfeeding, and being skin-to-skin
Loving touch from a partner
Healing bodywork like massage
Or even a hand on your hand or shoulder if that’s what feels good
Be in community. As I mentioned earlier, being around people that you feel GOOD around.
People who you feel like you can be half naked around and able to feed your baby on demand without hiding in the other room alone— you don’t feel on edge, you feel SAFE.
Being with someone (or multiple someones) you can trust enough to feel these emotions, ride the waves of these hormone fluctuations, let it out, process, and feel it all while knowing that they will be able to be there with you to hold the space for you as come back, rebuilding yourself as you transform into this new configuration of mother.
It can be really helpful to be around moms who have gone through this before or are currently going through it to talk about all of the experiences.
Not being completely alone with your baby in the early days is so important. If we think of our primal brains, at what point in history has it ever been safe for a mother to be alone with her baby? Or even just two humans with one baby. Community is key.
Oxytocin and postpartum well-being
As you can see, oxytocin is a great ally to have on our side. Oxytocin inhibits the release of cortisol (a stress hormone), and many studies have shown an inverse relationship between endogenous oxytocin release and postpartum depression. This means the more oxytocin in our system that our body makes itself (not the synthetic oxytocin, Pitocin, sometimes given during or after labor), the lower the risk we have of postpartum depression.
I offer one-on-one support for new mamas to provide emotional support, early breastfeeding support, and traditional healing practices that can promote faster, more complete healing, and do everything we can to boost that oxytocin- especially in the early days of having a new baby at home. Please reach out if you want help planning for your postpartum or want to learn more about personalized postpartum wellness support.
P.S. This applies to fathers as well! When fathers can be with their babies in the early days they release more oxytocin than men who are not with their families. The release of oxytocin in fathers is correlated with more play and interaction with their babies, increased bonding, and more involvement in caregiving.
What are some ways you can start to feel safe and get that oxytocin flowing today?
Share your experience or tips in the comments below!
Thank you for all that you do mama. Sending big love!
xo,
Alyssa
Resources:
Gettler, L. T., Kuo, P. X., Sarma, M. S., Trumble, B. C., Burke Lefever, J. E., & Braungart-Rieker, J. M. (2021). Fathers' oxytocin responses to first holding their newborns: Interactions with testosterone reactivity to predict later parenting behavior and father-infant bonds. Developmental psychobiology, 63(5), 1384–1398. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22121
Li, Y., Hassett, A. L., & Seng, J. S. (2019). Exploring the mutual regulation between oxytocin and cortisol as a marker of resilience. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 33(2), 164–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2018.11.008
Odent, M. (2012) The Role of the Shy Hormone in Breastfeeding. Midwifery Today, (101). https://madriella.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/MT-M-Odent-The-Role-of-the-Shy-Hormone-in-Breastfeeding.pdf
Thul, T. A., Corwin, E. J., Carlson, N. S., Brennan, P. A., & Young, L. J. (2020). Oxytocin and postpartum depression: A systematic review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 120, 104793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104793