Why Oxytocin Matters

Oxytocin, or the 'hormone of health and life', is a hugely important substance for pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding - working in a woman's body and brain to make changes during pregnancy, optimise labour, increase milk production and support bonding. Research has shown that we can encourage the body's oxytocin system by supporting mothers' wellbeing through birth practices and postnatal care. We also now know that oxytocin is present in everyone, of any age, directing a whole system of effects that have consequences for family life, including bonding, stress reduction and social interaction.

In Why Oxytocin Matters Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, a leading oxytocin researcher, shows how a better understanding of our biology can be immensely helpful for new parents and those who work to support families.


About the Author
Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, M.D., Ph.D., is recognised as a world authority on oxytocin. Her research has taken place and takes place at the famed Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, where she is Professor of Physiology. The author of more than 450 scientific papers and previous books, She and He, The Oxytocin Factor and The Hormone of Closeness, Oxytocin the Biological Guide to Motherhood, and she is a co-author on Attachment to Pets. Dr. Uvnäs Moberg lectures widely in Europe and the United States. Her work has been influential in a variety of fields, including physiology, women's health, obstetrics, psychology, animal husbandry, physical therapy, pediatrics, and child development. A mother of four children, she lives in Djursholm, Sweden.

Why Oxytocin Matters (2019) is her latest book.