““Moreover, Neumann believes the primary function of oxytocin is to protect the brain from the hormonal havoc caused by birth and parenting. “Sexual steroids fluctuate up and down in the brain during birth,” she says. The roller coaster can cause stress, anxiety, and depression. But oxytocin appears to shut down the brain’s normal stress reaction, in both rats and humans. The world can burst into flame and fall to pieces around a mother with a newborn infant, and she will smile and coo and sigh with happiness. Or fearlessness. Trusting””
