Maybe. Interesting question!
I definitely notice that mothers from nursing families
have an easier time establishing breastfeeding, in
fact I comment on it all the time. I've always
assumed it was "learned success." For cultural
reasons there are many families in my area that have
never seen a generational break in breastfeeding.
While there are social taboos regarding duration,
public nursing, and employment, CDC figures apparently
show Utah meeting all 2010 goals back in 2004. No
baby friendly hospitals, no legislation except a
clarification of the right to nurse a child in public,
little public acceptance of nursing/pumping in the
workplace.
I suspect there is an oxytocin rush as your own
daughter births and draws her newborn to her breast in
front of you, though that pleasure is far ahead of me
personally. Since the thought alone brings me to
tears I can only imagine the physical response for
mothers and their nursed daughters.
I do notice that many of these mothers experience a
visit from grandma, often at birth, often lasting
several weeks postpartum if she lives far away.
Since oxytocin & prolactin are "contagious" I suspect
having grandma on hand during the early days & weeks
would be fabulous for milk supply. I suspect a
supportive grandmother, even one who did not
breastfeed, could boost hormonal flows. But it's
interesting to think of the difference when a
grandmother tends her grown nursling, babe at breast.
Kind of a wow factor.
If anyone wants to do a study, I'd say come on out to
Utah, the weather's fine!
Susan Johnson MFA, IBCLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
<<Does anyone else have the sense that new moms who
were themselves breastfed tend to have ample milk
supplies? I don't know if I'm actually seeing it, but
that's my *sense*. And I got to wondering: when the
mother was breastfed, grandma is usually with her
after her own delivery. And grandma is certainly
seeing and smelling things she saw and smelled a
generation earlier. Might she, in turn, be helping to
crank up the levels of prolactin and oxytocin in the
household, either through her own hormonal levels or
by providing a layer of reassurance that a
bottle-feeding grandma simply doesn't provide? That's
spinning a lot from a little, but for starters: do
others have the sense that they see "easier" milk from
women who were breastfed and whose mothers are now
with them??
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com>>
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