OXYTOCIN - The Bonding Hormone

Shortly after you were born, the doctor who delivered you would have placed you against your mother's chest. Did you know this moment of skin to skin contact is more than just a photo op for the gram?

During this first physical contact between mother and child, feeling the mother's touch and hearing her voice calms and soothes the baby, who has just emerged from the peaceful cocoon that is the womb, into the nosiy outside world. It is also in this moment that a surge of oxytocin courses through the new mother's body.

Oxytocin is a hormone secreted during pregnancy and childbirth. Many studies in mammals have shown a correlation between oxytocin and the attachment a mother has with her baby. Mammalian mothers with high levels of oxytocin displayed more nurturing behaviours towards their offspring than those with lower levels. 

It has been observed that higher levels of this hormones throughout pregnancy may lead to mothers engaging in more maternal behaviours, such as singing special songs and bathing an their newborns in a unique way. Further, if oxytocin levels were high during all three trimesters the mothers tend to check on their newborns more often. 

During the last trimester in the pregnancy, oxytocin makes the expectant mother act more cautiously - this is nature's way of helping an expectant mother protect herself and her baby. When labour begins, oxytocin is responsible for causing contractions. After the child is born, the hormone lowers a new mother's stress levels and help her relax; and may even have a role to play in helping the pain and truama of childbirth to fade! 

Isn't it amazing how Biology and Chemistry work so seamlessly together to ensure the continuation of a species?  

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