Woman's sexual desire

Breastfeeding women and their infants produce a substance that increases sexual desire of other women.

University of Chicago researchers have found that breastfeeding women and their infants produce a substance that increases sexual desire among other women.

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According to the study, which was published in the latest issue of the journal 'Hormones and Behavior,' breastmilk has a substance called 'chemosignals,' when combined with babies saliva and perspiration has an impact on a woman's mood and menstrual cycles when absorbed through the nose.

The researchers found that after being exposed to the breastfeeding compounds for two months, women with regular partners experienced a 24 percent increase in sexual desire as reported on a standard psychological survey. Women without partners experienced a 17 percent increase in sexual fantasies after exposure.

The researchers recruited 26 breastfeeding women, who took a bland diet and wore pads in their nursing bras, where the saliva from their infants in addition to their own perspiration and milk was collected. They also wore pads secured by underarm shields to collect perspiration.

Participants were given a set of pads on a regular basis and asked to swipe them under their noses in the morning and at night and any other time of the day in which they may have wiped their upper lips or showered.

It was found that the effect became striking during the last half of the menstrual cycle after ovulation when sexual motivation normally declines.

"This is the first report in humans of a natural social chemosignal that increases sexual motivation," said Martha McClintock, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University, and the lead researcher in a team at the University's Institute for Mind and Biology.