Marcia wrote then Diane answered:
<>the woman whose job situation was such that she was surrounded only by
>the thin walls of her cubicle to pump and so inhibited by what people
>might hear, that her milk was backing up and beginning to diminish
>because she couldn't get an MER at work! (BTW, nipple rolling at my
>suggestion "almost flooded the pump"!)
Exactly! Hit the right spot, and it's not a matter of being relaxed, it's a
matter almost of reflex. A pump is a one-size-fits-most, and some women
perhaps need more emotional connection to it for it to work. You had her
override the need for relaxation simply by having her hit the right nerve
endings!>
Again, I'm behind on digests due to travel, and references are in Ohio.
The "tap" reflex was first discovered by agricultural and veterinary science, and it's now known that even in humans, the MER, besides being elicited by the neurohormonal arc that includes oxytocin, can also be elicited simply by pressure on the myoepithelial cells. (Ever see a calf or kid butting its momma's udder, or a kitten or puppy "kneading" its momma's "bosom"?)
So both massage of various areas of the breast, and stimulation of the nerves that come close to the surface of the areolar skin at the base of the nipple are helpful in triggering a MER. The Marmet method includes both, and I have also observed that RPS for 1-2 minutes seems invariably to elicit MER.
If I remember correctly, the hormones for fight or flight cut down circulation to non-essential organs and processes, so that due to constriction of blood vessels, not only might less oxytocin be secreted, but less circulation might be received by various areas of the breasts. However, the microanatomy of the breast shows many what are called anastamoses of the tiny blood vessels.
This means multiple capillary interconnections between the arterial and venous parts of the circulation. This permits nature to increase or decrease all or just certain parts of the circulation in the capillary beds at any one time. (Same thing occurs elsewhere in the body-cold fingers on ungloved hand and warm fingers on gloved, etc., sometimes affected by injury, such as frostbite, etc., resulting in Raynaud's phenomenon.)
Since feeding the young has always been necessary for the survival
of the species, it seems that nature provided more than one mechanism built in for either the young or the mother to somehow encourage milk release.
Jean
*************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA
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