http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050729/HTAYLOR29/TPHealth/

Breastfeeding benefits mothers, too
The Globe and Mail
Friday, July 29, 2005

Breastfeeding advocates have long maintained that mother's milk is the best source of nutrition for a growing infant. But new research shows that nursing is good for mom, too: It apparently reduces her stress levels.

Researchers at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre in Montreal recently completed a study comparing stress levels of mothers who breastfed their newborns with those who used a bottle formula.

To provoke a stressful situation, the two groups of mothers were shown fictional films in which children were exposed to danger. The non-breastfeeding mothers reacted much more strongly to the films, producing higher levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in their bodies than did the breastfeeders.

"Our findings show some of the bottle-feeding moms to be more reactive to stress, which may lead to less than optimal care for the infant," said Mai Tu, a graduate student who conducted the research.

The senior researcher, Claire-Dominique Walker, believes the lactating mothers experienced less stress because their brains produce higher amount of oxytocin, another hormone. Oxytocin plays a key role in lactation, but it also seems to have a calming effect on the mother.

The study also showed that the reduction in stress was most pronounced in experienced breastfeeders who already had at least one child. "This indicated an added potential benefit of breastfeeding after repeated deliveries," researcher Sonia Lupien said.

Janice Reynolds



             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html