- According to the Surgeon General, the main barriers to breastfeeding include lack of knowledge, social norms, poor family and social support, embarrassment, lactation problems, returning to work, and inadequate access to health services.


Barriers to Breastfeeding in the US

Breastfeeding library

Hormones involved in breastfeeding are meant to ensure that is occures, that enough milk is produced, and that the mothers are able to tolerate the process. Some mothers are able to find enjoyment in breastfeeding, though many find it irritating, frustrating or unpleasant. Hormones involved in breastfeeding also can trigger the fight or flight mechanism within the mother, allowing them to better protect their child if necessary.

Some of the hormones that are involved are oxytocin and prolactin.

Hormones in breastfeeding

With D-MER, the mother experiences dysphoria during milk ejection or breast feeding.  It is reported as a sudden change in emotions when feeding occures. It typically disappears within 10 minutes after the beginning of feeding. This is different from postpartum depression because it lasts for a short time directly after the beginning of feeding. 

Dysphoric Milk-Ejection Reflex (D-MER)

Skin-to-Skin contact between a parent and child during breastfeeding is able to increase oxytocin and decrease stress in the parent and child. Contact soon after birth is heavily correlated to reduced stress.  In the child, there is a decreased sympathetic nervous system response.Babies are also less afraid and more social with the mother.

Skin-to-Skin contact during nursing

- Breastfeeding has psychological and physical benefits for both mothers and infants
- Its immunological benefits are considered to be the most effective preventive means of reducing the death rate of children under five years old. 

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Grinnell College

- Preconception Nutrition
- Nutrition During Pregnancy
- Nutrition During Lactation
- Infant Nutrition
- Toddler and Preschooler Nutrition
- Child and Preadolescent Nutrition
- Adolescent Nutrition


Nutrition Through the Lifecycle

Behaviors that are instantly shown in the mother after giving birth. Four measurable behaviors seen in rat mothers are nest building, crouching over pups, retrieving pups, and nursing.  

Maternal Behavior

Brown, J. E., Lechtenberg, E., Sahyoun, N. R., Leonberg, B. L., Bowser, E. K., Wong, R., . . . Murtaugh, M. A. (2020). Nutrition Through the Life Cycle (Seventh ed.). Cengage.

Nutrition Through the Life Cycle (Seventh ed.)

Breastfeeding

One way that pregnant rats prepare for her pups is licking her nipples to clean them. This makes them more sensitive to touch and expands the sensory cortex related to the surrounding skin. An example of animals altering their brains to impact future behaviors. 

Preparing for Offspring

It is seen that virgin female rats do not display these maternal behaviors around newborns. Virgin females dislike the smell of pups. However, if put a female around pups for a few hours for a few days in a row, virgin females can develop some maternal behaviors; they can be trained to care for newborns. 

Virgin Females and Newborns

There is not one hormone responsible for the ignition of maternal behaviors. Many hormones that appear during and after pregnancy are required to develop maternal behaviors and allow mothers to care for their children. It is also interesting to note that some of the same brain regions are involved in both mating and maternal behaviors. 

Hormones for Maternal Behavior

Studies have shown that rats have two competing neural pathways that mediate maternal responses and aversive behaviors towards pups. In virgin females the aversive pathway is dominant and plays a strong role in suppressing maternal behavior. However, the hormones in postpartum rats ignite the opposite circuit and silence the aversive one. Studying the interplay of these two circuits in different environments and in different populations can help us discover the controls of parental care in various species. 

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