Intranasal oxytocin increases breast milk oxytocin, but has a reduced effect in depressed mothers: A randomized controlled trial

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Oxytocin (OT) plays pivotal roles in stress regulation, mother-infant bonding, and breastfeeding, all of which are adversely impacted by postnatal depression (PND).

In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, the researchers assessed endogenous OT concentrations first in the breast milk of new mothers at baseline, and second following the administration of exogenous OT compared to a placebo delivered via a nasal spray.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are infants, young adults and adults, women only.

Participants were mothers (N = 62, aged 23-42 years) and their infants (aged 3-9 months).

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Oxytocin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Oxytocin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Oxytocin group a baseline to be compared against.

Each mother underwent screening for PND symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

N = 26 mothers scored above the cut-off point (≥9) on the EPDS, and N = 36 mothers scored below.

Breast milk samples, collected during breastfeeding, were assayed for OT content.

What Was Measured

In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, the researchers assessed endogenous OT concentrations first in the breast milk of new mothers at baseline, and second following the administration of exogenous OT compared to a placebo delivered via a nasal spray.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Oxytocin, Milk, Human, Depression, Postpartum, Mothers, Breast Feeding and Mother-Child Relations.

Author keywords: Breast milk, Mood and Postnatal depression.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin.

Its findings take up roughly 5 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2025 (Psychoneuroendocrinology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.