One Thing You Didn't Know About Breastfeeding
Today on You Are Mom, we would like to share something you probably didn’t know about breastfeeding. Keep reading to discover what it is below.
Breastfeeding is one of the most intimate, warm and memorable moments a woman experiences upon becoming a mother.
Breastfeeding means feeding a human being who still cannot fend for themselves.
It provides your baby with the necessary defences against pathogens. Breastfeeding also strengthens an emotional relationship that started in the uterus.
Breast milk is more than food
Breast milk is the best food a child can receive.
There are other recommended supplements when a child cannot tolerate milk or their mother doesn’t produce enough milk. However, breast milk has no replacement.
The first yellowish liquid that comes out of the chest is colostrum. Together with breast milk, they immunize the baby against pathogens they are exposed to daily.
But in addition to providing necessary food and immunization, the action of holding and caressing a child while breastfeeding contributes to their psychological well-being.
As a mother, keep in mind that emotions are transmitted through breast milk, both negative and positive.
If you breastfeed your child in a quiet place where both you and your child feel comfortable, they will be happy.
On the other hand, if you are impatient, you feel nervous/embarrassed/uncomfortable… you will be transferring the same emotions to your child.
Then they will cry, act out, and be upset.
One thing you didn’t know about breastfeeding
We can all agree that breastfeeding entails dedication, responsibility, and above all, love.
Did you know that the hormone that makes you love your child so much is also responsible for releasing milk from your breasts?
Oxytocin: the molecule of love and lactation
The love drug, as oxytocin is popularly known, is responsible for the attachment you have to your child, even before birth.
This hormone also plays a fundamental role in the release of milk from your nipples every time your child needs food.
We will explain how this happens.
Oxytocin and a mother’s love
When a woman is about to give birth, the production of oxytocin in her brain is increased.
This hormone makes the love you feel towards your baby grow stronger as time passes.
During labor, the mother’s brain continues to produce a large amount of oxytocin. Immediately after birth, the maternal instinct grows stronger.
The high levels of oxytocin guarantee love at first sight and will displace pain, fatigue and any other state that is not attachment, protection, and love for the newborn.
Oxytocin and the release of milk
When the baby suckles the nipple, the mother experiences a nerve response that travels to the brain where oxytocin is released.
This hormone travels through the blood vessels to the breast where the muscle cells are stimulated. Then the breast tissue contracts and the glands start secreting milk.
Due to the frequency of breastfeeding, this mechanism becomes reflexive; that is, some mothers release milk upon hearing their baby cry.
Although this is not extremely common, some women may also release milk upon hearing a child cry on television or nearby.
Mom, breastfeeding is a unique period in your life.
When the years go by and you see another mother breastfeed her child you will remember with nostalgia the pleasant moments that you and your baby spent together.
Enjoy this warm moment from nature and live every minute as if it were the last.