Introduction: As breast milk can cover baby’s basic nutritional needs, it is the best food for infants. Prolactin is essential for lactation. This hormone is bound to the hormone receptors that are located on alveolar producing milk cells and milk production starts. So far, no research has been done to show the effect of foeniculum on prolactin levels in humans. This study was conducted to determine the effect of foeniculum on prolactin in humans to increase knowledge of obstetric community.
Methods: This research was a before and after intervention study that was conducted on 46 cases referred to Asyabad clinic in Ahvaz, Iran in 2012. Data was collected based on demographic questionnaires. The samples were investigated with 3gr of foeniculum divided into 6 capsules daily for 15 days; each capsule contained 500 mg of foeniculum powder. Serum prolactin level was evaluated two times: before prescribing foeniculum capsules and 16 days after prescribing the capsules. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Wilcoxon tests. P value less than 0.001 was considered significant.
Results: The mean ofserum prolactin level before the intervention was 64.55±32.06 ng/ml and after the intervention was 95.55±65.90 ng/ml and the difference in serum prolactin level before and after the intervention was 30.99±44.78 ng/ml that according to the Wilcoxon test, the difference was significant (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Foeniculum significantly affects on serum prolactin level in lactating mothers.