Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during breastfeeding - a systematic review

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorUvnas-Moberg, Kerstin
dc.contributor.authorEkstrom-Bergstrom, Anette
dc.contributor.authorBuckley, Sarah
dc.contributor.authorMassarotti, Claudia
dc.contributor.authorPajalic, Zada
dc.contributor.authorLuegmair, Karolina
dc.contributor.authorKotlowska, Alicia
dc.contributor.authorLengler, Luise
dc.contributor.authorOlza, Ibone
dc.contributor.authorGrylka-Baeschlin, Susanne
dc.contributor.authorLeahy-Warren, Patricia
dc.contributor.authorHadjigeorgiu, Eleni
dc.contributor.authorVillarmea, Stella
dc.contributor.authorDencker, Anna
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Commissionen
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-29T15:01:52Z
dc.date.available2022-04-29T15:01:52Z
dc.date.issued2020-08
dc.date.updated2022-04-29T14:29:50Z
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: Oxytocin is a key hormone in breastfeeding. No recent review on plasma levels of oxytocin in response to breastfeeding is available. Materials and methods: Systematic literature searches on breastfeeding induced oxytocin levels were conducted 2017 and 2019 in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Data on oxytocin linked effects and effects of medical interventions were included if available. Results: We found 29 articles that met the inclusion criteria. All studies had an exploratory design and included 601 women. Data were extracted from the articles and summarised in tables. Breastfeeding induced an immediate and short lasting (20 minutes) release of oxytocin. The release was pulsatile early postpartum (5 pulses/10 minutes) and coalesced into a more protracted rise as lactation proceeded. Oxytocin levels were higher in multiparous versus primiparous women. The number of oxytocin pulses during early breastfeeding was associated with greater milk yield and longer duration of lactation and was reduced by stress. Breastfeeding-induced oxytocin release was associated with elevated prolactin levels; lowered ACTH and cortisol (stress hormones) and somatostatin (a gastrointestinal hormone) levels; enhanced sociability; and reduced anxiety, suggesting that oxytocin induces physiological and psychological adaptations in the mother. Mechanical breast pumping, but not bottle-feeding was associated with oxytocin and prolactin release and decreased stress levels. Emergency caesarean section reduced oxytocin and prolactin release in response to breastfeeding and also maternal mental adaptations. Epidural analgesia reduced prolactin and mental adaptation, whereas infusions of synthetic oxytocin increased prolactin and mental adaptation. Oxytocin infusion also restored negative effects induced by caesarean section and epidural analgesia. Conclusions: Oxytocin is released in response to breastfeeding to cause milk ejection, and to induce physiological changes to promote milk production and psychological adaptations to facilitate motherhood. Stress and medical interventions during birth may influence these effects and thereby adversely affect the initiation of breastfeeding.en
dc.description.sponsorshipEuropean Commission (COST Action IS1405 BIRTH: "Building Intrapartum Research Through Health - An interdisciplinary whole system approach to understanding and contextualising physiological labour and birth")en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide0235806en
dc.identifier.citationUvnas-Moberg, K., Ekstrom-Bergstrom, A., Buckley, S., Massarotti, C., Pajalic, Z., Luegmair, K., Kotlowska, A., Lengler, L., Olza, I., Grylka-Baeschlin, S., Leahy-Warren, P., Hadjigeorgiu, E., Villarmea, S. and Dencker, A (2020) 'Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during breastfeeding - a systematic review', PloS ONE, 15(8), e0235806. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235806en
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0235806en
dc.identifier.endpage38en
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.issued8en
dc.identifier.journaltitlePloS ONEen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/13132
dc.identifier.volume15en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen
dc.rights© 2020 Uvna¨s-Moberg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectEpidural analgesiaen
dc.subjectSomatostatin levelsen
dc.subjectPersonality-traitsen
dc.subjectMilk-productionen
dc.subjectBlood-pressureen
dc.subjectProlactinen
dc.subjectWomenen
dc.subjectReleaseen
dc.subjectPostpartumen
dc.subjectTermen
dc.titleMaternal plasma levels of oxytocin during breastfeeding - a systematic reviewen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
pone.0235806.pdf
Size:
1.26 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published Version
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Nursing and Midwifery - Journal Articles