*2.5. Statistical Analysis*

Medians and 25th–75th percentiles were calculated by use of routine descriptive statistical procedures and computer software (Excel 2016, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Statistical analyses were performed using Graph Pad Software Inc (GraphPad Prism, version 5 for Windows, Graph Pad Software Inc, San Diego, CA, USA). The Shapiro–Wilk test was performed to evaluate the data distribution, which did not follow a normal distribution. Therefore, data were log-transformed. One-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by uncorrected Fisher's LSD were used to compare oxytocin values obtained at the different times, namely DB, T0 and T2. Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated between the analytical parameters with oxytocin concentrations measured with AlphaLISA monoclonal and polyclonal method. The strength of the correlation was assessed by the Rule of Thumb [26], according to which an R value between 0.90 to 1 was considered to have very high correlation, 0.70 to 0.90 high correlation, 0.50 to 0.70 moderate correlation, 0.30 to 0.50 low correlation and less than 0.30 little, if any, correlation. Results were reported as median and 25th−75th percentiles (in text) and line-box plots (in Figures) and a *p* < 0.05 was considered significant.
