I have a copy of an article from the New York Times, May 24, 1994 titled
"Mother's
Milk Found to Be a Potent Cocktail of Hormones" by Natalie Angier.

As we all know, there is a surge of hormones at birth.

The article cites a study -- let me just quote it directly:

"Already there are clues that the impact of gonadotropin releasing hormone
in
[human] milk may resonate well into adulthood.  Studying the effects of
GnRH on the
physiology of newborn rate, Dr. Sergio R. Ojeda, head of the neuroscience
division
at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in Beaverton, and his
co-workers
have learned that the hormone suppresses the premature development if the
reproductive organs of females.  Once ingested, the hormone fills in little
docking
sites studding a young rat's ovaries and keeps them from responding to
competing
signals in the body that might otherwise urge rapid maturation.

'Through breastmilk, the development of the ovaries is kept in check, to
keep them
from becoming activated too early in life,' Dr. Ojeda said.  'It's an extra
mechanism to insure the system works well.'

Dr. Ojeda cannot say whether GnRH in human milk plays a similar role in
baby
girls.  But he pointed out that the need for such hormonal subduing could
be even
greater in humans than it is in rodents.  It turns out that estrogen levels
in the
placenta soar shortly before birth, which means that an infant girl is
exposed to
an estrogen spike capable of influencing her tiny sex organs.

Studies of stillborn infants have revealed that the estrogen does indeed
hyperstimulate the ovaries, sometimes causing the egg follicles to enlarge
to
almost cyst-like proportions.  GnRH in mother's milk could be the hormonal
signal
that reverses that ovarian agitation.

If so, then the lack of breastmilk could theoretically result in the
premature
development of the ovaries, a state that can be dangerous.

In developed nations, the age of first menstruation has dropped
significantly over
the last 75 years or so, a phenomenon that many experts have ascribed to
the West's
high-calorie, high-nutrient diet.  The new studies, however, suggest that
bottle-feeding might also contribute to the early onset of menstruation."



Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, IBCLC, LLLL
Vacaville, CA
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