Dear Lactnet Friends:

Dr. Michel Odent has given me permission to share this article he wrote for
an Argentinian conference.

* *

*THE ROLE OF THE SHY HORMONE IN BREASTFEEDING*



                    There is no breastfeeding without oxytocin, since the
‘milk ejection reflex’ is dependent on the release of this hormone. The
mechanical effects of oxytocin have been well-known for a long time, not
only for inducing contractions of specialised breast cells during the milk
ejection reflex, but also for inducing uterine contractions during
childbirth and orgasm, and for inducing contractions of the prostate and
seminal vesicles during the sperm ejection reflex. The behavioural effects
of oxytocin are also well understood; it is commonplace today to summarise
these effects by using the term ‘love hormone’.


We have still a lot to learn, on the other hand, on oxytocin release.
However we have a sufficient amount of physiological and observational data
to conclude that the release of oxytocin is highly dependent on
environmental factors. The best way to summarise what we already know is to
claim that oxytocin is the ‘shy hormone’:  it behaves like a shy person who
does not appear among strangers or observers.


                   This is the kind of knowledge that is not well digested
where breastfeeding is concerned. I heard many stories of mothers who had
required some advice to overcome breastfeeding difficulties. The advice they
received was almost always focusing on the position of the baby when
latching on. If it was better understood that many difficulties in
breastfeeding are related to the release of the ‘shy hormones’, the most
common recommendations would be different. Instead of being guided by an
adviser-observer in order to find the right postures, the mother might be
first suggested to stay with nobody else than her baby in a small dark room,
with the door closed and the guarantee that nobody will open the door. It is
well demonstrated that the ‘shy hormone’ does not appear in situations
associated with a release of adrenaline. This implies that the room must be
warm enough to make possible and comfortable a skin-to skin contact between
mother and baby. I know from experience that such simple suggestions can
help breaking a vicious circle during a critical phase of lactation.


                  An analogy is possible with childbirth. In the framework
of the natural childbirth movements, I often heard stories of very long and
difficult labours. A common comment was: ‘We tried everything’. In practice
the meaning of this comment was: ‘we tried a great diversity of postures,
nipple stimulation, massage, acupuncture, birthing pool, etc. It is not
usual to hear that the baby’s father, the grandmother, and the second
midwife, for example, had been sent miles away, so that finally there was
nobody around the labouring woman, apart from an experienced, silent and low
profile midwife, perceived as a protective mother-figure.


                     Interestingly, the release of the shy hormone is still
understood during sexual intercourse, another event highly dependent on
oxytocin release.  Anthropologists have noticed that in all cultures,
including those where genital sexuality is free, couples usually isolate
themselves to make love, as if they knew about the ‘shy hormone’.



                   These considerations are of paramount importance at a
time when, all over the world, the difficulties of breastfeeding are
increasing. There are probably many reasons for such common difficulties.
Some of them are explained by the strong connections between birth
physiology and lactation physiology. In the age of synthetic oxytocin and
easy simplified techniques of caesarean, a great proportion of women do not
rely on their natural hormones to give birth. In such a context one cannot
expect good breastfeeding statistics. The only way to break vicious circles
before it is too late is to improve our understanding of oxytocin release.



                    (Written by Dr. Michel Odent; permission given to post
on LACTNET August 22, 2011)


warmly,
-- 
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, CKC
craniosacral therapy practitioner
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com

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

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