the uterus contract to push out the baby, it’s also this incredibly powerful bonding hormone, so that when your baby comes out, you’ve never seen anything so beautiful in your entire life and you would take a bullet for this little cutie. And oxytocin isn’t released only during childbirth; it’s also released during sex and with hugs and snuggles and healthy relationships. And it buffers the stress response by actually inhibiting the HPA axis — the brain and body’s stress-response circuitry. Plus, it has been shown to have antidepressant
