Jean, There is research somewhere that has measured oxytocin in breastmilk...from memory it was not thought that it would have any impact because it would not be available. However, it is likely that oxytocin is released in babies in response to the intimate social and physical interaction that occurs during breastfeeding. A couple of refs that talk about this are below. 24. Mooncey S, Giannakoulopoulos X, Glover V, Acolet D, Modi N: The effect of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on plasma cortisol and β-endorphin concentrations in preterm newborns. Infant Behav Dev 1997, 20:553-557. 27. Schore AN: The effects of a secure attachment on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Ment Health J 2001, 22:7-66. Karleen Gribble Australia The question came into my mind: Does anyone know if it is possible to absorb oxytocin through the GI tract, and whether breastmilk contains oxytocin? I have read that it contains prolactin, but thus far, no effect had been hypothesized. But if it were to contain oxytocin, this article suggests some powerful possibilities in relation to infant emotional development. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html