Lynn,
I wonder if it would make a difference if you were to describe just what it
is about breastfeeding that helps build the relationship between mother and
child rather (ie give the detail and forget the summary). So talk about how
breastfeeding provides calming, comfort and analgesia to infants via lots of
different ways. The release of CCK in response to sucking and digestion of
the fat in breastmilk, the sweet flavour of breastmilk releases opioids in
the brain that provide pleasure and pain relief to the baby. Suckling itself
stimulates oropharyngeal and mechanoreceptors in the mouth that block
stimulation from other sources (therefore pain relieving and relaxing) and
the close physical contact with the mum has a heap of effects (look at the
kangarro care stuff for a list). The intimate social and physical contact
that occurs during breastfeeding perhaps results in the release of oxytocin
in the baby too.
And then the mum....she has prolactin, oxytocin and CCK released in response
to suckling, all three of these hormones are implicated in encouraging
maternal behaviour and have other affects. For eg providing stress relief
(and mothering can be stressful) and mothers who are less stressed are able
to be more responsive to their baby. Also breastfeeding requires mum to be
in proximity to her baby and to interact with him/her in an intimate way
regularly and again, we know that the more mums and babies are kept together
the more sensitive a mother is to her baby. She gets opiods released in her
brain in response (ie feels pleasure) in response to intimate social
interaction with her baby. There are lots and lots of things that can be
summarised as "breastfeeding helps with bonding" but looking at the detail
can be enlightening I think!

If anyone does share this sort of info with mums I'd be interested to hear
how it is received!

Karleen Gribble
Australia

> When I have a mom making insufficient milk (haven't had one with none
> at all yet) I really emphasize the orthodontic benefits of nursing at
> the breast.  For some reason the closeness idea isn't persuasive, maybe
> because most people here bottle feed and no one is going to say that
> friend/neighbor/relative isn't appropriately bonded to her child.  It
> seems to be surprising news whenever I share it, and braces are so
> expensive that it makes an impact.  "You may have to shell out the big
> bucks for formula, but maybe you can save some on the braces."
>
> Sadly, I have two ladies trying to offload donor milk locally and there
> are no takers, and I have offered to half a dozen people.
>
> Lynn

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