Ilene, you wrote: <Dr. Klaus made a comment at the conference I attended today that was puzzleing to me. He stated that oxytocin was the "love" hormone and that prolactin was responsible for milk production. I knew that prolactin was responsible for milk production but for as long as I can remember I thought it was also referred to as the "mothering hormone" responsible for nurturing, relaxing feelings. > I remember asking about this exact same question last year. No doubt it is in the archives somewhere. I believe that Kirsten Uvnas-Moberg has written a great deal about oxytocin. Pat wrote: < I thought that I remembered that prolactin was the hormone given to experimental male animals and made them act motherly. Anyone else remember that study? > Yes, Pat. I remember receiving a handout at a LLL meeting nearly 40 years ago. It was a reprint from LIFE magazine. It reported on a policeman with a pituitary tumor and his urge to nurture until it was removed, and the study about male laboratory animals who received injections of prolactin. Their subsequent nest-building and nurturing actions to the young was quoted, no doubt from the study you mention. I had also picked up reprints of Niles Newton, and was aware of the interrelated relational aspects of oxytocin. But I specifically remember being suffused with a feeling of adoration for the whole world and especially for the small cuddly bit of humanity right there in my arms. It came over me a few minutes after I began to nurse. It seemed to me that the timing was completely different from the timing of the MER. I remain personally convinced that there is an emotional effect attached to prolactin, as well as oxytocin, and in my personal experience, I thought they felt different, even though often blended. As I understand it, each species has its specific type of prolactin. I have seen it mentioned frequently in research titles, in relation to birds, pigeons in particular. I wonder if birds have much oxytocin? I wonder whether it may prolactin that causes a relative "nesting urge" in the 3rd trimester of human pregnancy. Isn't this about this time that prolactin levels begin to consistently rise till term? There certainly would not seem to be the amount or frequency of oxytocin consistently effecting mothers at that point in pregnancy. I hope someone knows of or does more studies on this. Jean ************************** K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC Dayton, Ohio,USA ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html