The vision of the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Oxford Centre for the Endocrinology of Human Lactation (LRF OCEHL) is to build a holistic understanding, at the molecular and clinical level, of how hormones regulate human milk production and influence maternal-infant bonding – for the benefit of mothers’ and children’s health globally.
Breastfeeding has vital nutritional and health benefits for babies. Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants worldwide are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life to protect against infections and reduce mortality. They estimate that more than 820,000 children’s lives could be saved annually if all babies were breastfed as recommended - link
The process (known as lactation) of producing and releasing milk from the breasts is coordinated by the mother’s hormones. However, many mothers struggle to breastfeed, or feel they produce too little milk (known as lactation insufficiency). In fact, of the 85% of mothers who intend to breastfeed exclusively for 3 months or more, only a third achieve their goal. These problems can adversely affect mental health and produce feelings of failure at an already sensitive time in a woman’s life.
Mothers of babies born preterm frequently also have difficulties initiating lactation. This forces them to use pasteurised milk that contains essential nutrients but not vital components, such as immune cells, which are in breast milk.
At present, very little is known about the endocrinology of human lactation and why breastfeeding also provides significant long-term health benefits to mothers. Gaining a better understanding of how hormones influence the process has the potential to improve global infant and maternal health outcomes.
The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Oxford Centre for the Endocrinology of Human Lactation (LRF OCEHL), led by Prof Fadil Hannan, was established to address this critical topic. The Centre is building a holistic understanding, using molecular and clinical research, of how hormones regulate human milk production. Understanding how hormones, such as prolactin and oxytocin, influence lactation is crucial to helping mothers who are struggling to breastfeed.
Our goal is to uncover answers to the following questions:
What are the underlying biological processes causing lactation insufficiency?
Which hormones, other than prolactin and oxytocin, are driving human breast milk production?
Can we use hormone measurements as tools to diagnose lactation insufficiency and tailor personalised treatments to increase breast milk production?
Learn more on the three pillars of research
Our research into the endocrinology of human lactation aims, therefore, to improve the knowledge base in order to develop better policies around breastfeeding and promotion of infant health globally. This will also form part of the University of Oxford’s contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ‘Zero hunger’ (SDG2) and ‘Good health and well-being’ (SDG3) for every child in the world.
Listen to LRF OCEHL’s Director, Prof. Fadil Hannan, introduce the centre and its work. He explains how truly unique and amazing breastmilk is as a fluid and why it’s so interesting to be investigating the role of hormones in lactation.
The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation (FLRF) is an independent charitable organisation aiming to promote new knowledge about breastmilk, breastfeeding and implementation strategies and invest globally in scientific projects, basic and applied research on breastfeeding and breastmilk without pursuing any economic benefit.
