What is oxytocin?
💕OXYTOCIN💕
The love hormone, the cuddle chemical, the mothering hormone. The same fabulous hormone responsible for helping you conceive your baby 😏 and move your labor and birth along has incredible jobs in the postpartum period.
💕Oxytocin initiates the process of uterine involution, or your uterus shrinking back down to its pre-pregnancy size and shape. We go over all the details of what this looks and feels like in our workshop!
💕Oxytocin is often nicknamed the love hormone because it is responsible for helping you create bonds. This includes the bond with a partner as well as your bond with your newborn in the early hours, days and weeks following birth. The release of oxytocin is one big reason why we talk so much about skin-to-skin in our workshop!
💕Oxytocin is a wonderful protective factor for controlling postpartum bleeding (as is its synthetic sibling, pitocin, which we’ll cover another day). When the placenta detaches from the uterus after birth, it leaves a dinner-plate sized wound. Oxytocin helps the muscles of the uterus to clamp down on those open blood vessels. This slows down bleeding and prevents hemorrhage.
💕Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for initiating the milk ejection reflex, or letdown, when breast feeding/chest feeding. When baby suckles at the breast, a cascade of chemical reactions result in the subsequent flow of milk!
💕Oxytocin promotes a feeling of calm for many new birthing parents.* It is believed to decrease blood pressure, reduce anxiety and stress, and protect against postpartum mood disorder. If you’ve ever felt sleepy and content while cuddling or nursing your newborn, you know you’ve experienced that flood of oxytocin! A lactation consultant we know used to call it “oxytocin eyes.” 🥰
*if the letdown reflex causes opposite feelings for you, know that you’re not alone and it’s a real thing. D-MER is a topic we will cover soon!
Your postpartum nurses Meg and Carly here to prepare you for postpartum and beyond. We want to make sure you have the education you need to care for your own healing body after birth, not just your baby.
Postpartum prep courses occurring virtually and regularly intended to be taken during pregnancy are now open for registration. Our return to work support group is pay what you can and supports that tough back to work transition. Then join us in our online community for the growth, support and empowerment to continue <3
