Is Oxytocin safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Oxytocin. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Nasal spray. Intranasal oxytocin is reportedly used by some midwives as a galactogogue.[ 30 ] It has also been used as part of regimens used by adoptive mothers who wish to breastfeed.[ 31 ] A small study found no difference in symptoms between subcutaneous oxytocin 2.5 international units daily and placebo after 3 days of treatment for breast engorgement.[ 32 , 33 ] An early randomized, placebo-controlled trial used oxytocin nasal spray in the mothers of newborns, but lactation management fell far short of what is considered acceptable nowadays. The study found that the spray might be useful in decreasing breast engorgement slightly in the mothers of full-term infants, but no difference was found in the average infant weight loss between birth and day 4 in the oxytocin and placebo groups.[ 34 ] Two similarly designed trials studied oxytocin nasal spray in mothers of preterm newborns who were pumping milk for their infants. The first studied mothers of infants born before 38 weeks and used a total of 3 units of intranasal oxytocin (Syntocinon-Sandoz, 40 units/mL) before pumping each breast for 10 minutes four times daily. Among primiparous mothers, milk production during days 2 to 5 days postpartum was 1964 mL in those who used oxytocin and 510 mL in those who received placebo spray. Because of the large and statistically significant effect of oxytocin among primiparous women, the trial was stopped after only 8 primiparous mothers had been studied. No statistically significant difference was found between oxytocin and placebo among 4 multiparous women who were attempting to breastfeed for the first time. The paper did not report giving the mothers any instructions in lactation technique.[ 35 ] Fifty-one mothers who delivered an infant of less than 35 weeks gestation were studied. Twenty-seven mothers used 4 units of intranasal oxytocin (Syntocinon-Novartis, 40 units/mL), and 24 mothers received an identical placebo spray before pumping with a breast pump. All mother
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. Sixty-two nursing mothers who were 3 to 9 months postpartum, 26 with probable postnatal depression and 36 unlikely to have postnatal depression, had oxytocin measured in breastmilk at baseline and after administration of 12 IU (26.9 mcg) of intranasal oxytocin spray (Syntocinon) or placebo into each nostril in a randomized, double-blind fashion. Milk samples of 5 mL were collected during nursing and 30 to 45 minutes after administration of the nasal spray. Mothers with postnatal depression had baseline oxytocin milk levels of 227 picograms/5 mL and those without had an average of 209 picogram/5 mL, but the difference was not statistically significant. After the placebo nasal spray, there was no change in milk oxytocin levels in either group. After receiving the oxytocin nasal spray, milk oxytocin levels averaged about 700 picogram/5 mL in the non-depression group, but only about 300 picogram/5 mL in the postnatal depression group.[ 29 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.