Thanks for sharing. i've translated it and put it (with permission) in both Dutch and English on my site: <http://eurolac.net/index.php?p=144>

Warmly,

Gonneke, IBCLC in PP, LC lecturer in southern Netherlands

 
Twitter @eurolacpuntnet


>________________________________
>From: Nikki Lee <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 2:09 PM
>Subject: from MIchel Odent
>
>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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