australia, male hormonal contraception, oxytocin

I came across this blog all about the situation in Australia. While some of the posts are specific to the situation there some are applicable to midwifery everywhere. Hope ya'll enjoy!

Birth control may soon be shared more equally between men and women. This article from USA Today details research efforts underway to develop hormonal contraception for men. Researchers are most interested in investigating testosterone as a sperm production blocker though some studies have involved progestin. Likely routes of delivery include injections or topical gels. But Dr. John Armory an associate professor of medecine at The University of Washington says "Everybody's been saying 'in the next 5 years' for the past 30 years."

New research on everybody's favorite hormone, oxytocin. This article from The Telegraph discussesnew findings regarding the effects of oxytocin on soldiers in battle. According to the article "The results indicated that oxytocin drives a “tend and defend” response, promoting in-group trust and co-operation and defensive, but not offensive, aggression toward competing out-groups."