I’ve often wondered how a strong attachment-parenting mom could have as 
much ppd as some do, when the positive effects of oxytocin should be so 
strong. This article interests me in its finding that only the level of 
oxytocin in the hour after birth is enough to counteract the stress 
hormones. The full-text is in French --- I’m curious whether they’re 
saying that the first hour makes a differenence in long-term stress 
response or only for that hour or day or such. linda
 
[Ocytocin and maternal stress during the post-partum period.]
C Boutet, L Vercueil, C Schelstraete, A Buffin, and JJ Legros
Ann Endocrinol (Paris), June 1, 2006; 67(3): 214-23. 			

Diététicienne et animatrice du Centre Ressource Documentaire pour 
l'Allaitement Maternel, Chambéry. 
 

Oxytocin is required for lactation by promoting milk expulsion. Oxytocin 
has also been reported to exert a positive role in social attachment. The 
postpartum period has been shown to be crucial for maternal behavior 
initiation, and required self-trust reinforcement. However, this period is 
also remarkable for the high risk exposure of either psychic or physical 
stress. A negative impact on young mother is suspected, both in the short, 
medium or long term, which can even be deleterious for child-mother 
relationships. During lactation in female rats and sheep, oxytocin 
production has been proved to decrease stress-induced hormonal changes and 
later consequences. In human beings, only the first hour after breast-
feeding seems to protect against physical or psychic stress. Oxytocin 
improves the stress-induced response by reducing the ACTH and cortisol 
secretion thus representing a potential therapeutic pathway in post-partum 
pathologies such as depression. Thus, this review of recent literature 
about oxytocin and stress during post-partum period, leads to the 
assumption that oxytocin, at the moment of installation of breastfeeding, 
acts not only on the physiological condition, but also on the psychic 
condition of the mother.		

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