Diary Of A Pregnancy

Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

There are huge hormone changes in the early post-natal period, starting when your placenta is expelled just after your baby’s birth. This causes a sudden drop in pregnancy hormones, especially oestrogen, which causes a corresponding release of the lactation hormone, prolactin, from the pituitary gland in your brain. Prolactin starts the process of milk production in the breast; milk being made from the fatty globules in your blood.

It is the action of putting your baby to your breast to suckle that triggers your ‘let down’ reflex in which oxytocin is released from your pituitary gland to stimulate special cells in the breast. These cells squeeze the milk-producing cells, causing milk to be forced towards the nipple. Suckling in turn stimulates more prolactin to produce more milk. Read the rest of this entry »