Lactation reflexes play a role in pregnancy and lactation and serve to nourish the offspring. Breast milk is produced reflexively in the mammary gland under hormonal influence and is secreted by the gland. Absent lactation reflexes can be related to psychological causes such as stress, but can also be caused by faulty breastfeeding behavior.
What is the lactation reflex?
Lactation reflexes play a role in pregnancy and lactation and serve to nourish the offspring. All female mammals, thus including us humans, nourish their offspring with milk. The formation of this milk takes place in the lactiferous glands. The body processes involved are also known as lactation. The supply of the offspring is involuntarily ensured by so-called lactation reflexes. There are two different lactation reflexes: the first concerns the formation of milk. The second concerns the secretion of milk from the mammary gland. Like all reflexes, the lactation or milk formation reflexes are preceded by a specific stimulus that triggers the body processes. In the case of lactation reflexes, the key stimulus corresponds primarily to touch. Direct contact between mother and offspring plays an essential role in this context. In addition to touch stimuli, hormonal regulations are mainly relevant for lactation reflexes. The essential hormones in connection with lactation are prolactin and oxytocin. Both hormones are already produced during pregnancy. Prolactin is mainly required for the formation of milk. Oxytocin, on the other hand, plays a major role in secretion. Both lactation hormones are hormones produced by the pituitary gland, also known as the hypophysis.
Function and role
During pregnancy, the mother forms milk in the mammary glands. The milk-forming processes cannot be controlled voluntarily, but occur reflexively. As a lactation reflex, milk formation is subject to hormonal control. During pregnancy, the progesterone and estrogen levels of the expectant mother increase. The two hormones are initially formed in the ovaries and are later increasingly produced by the placenta. Under impulses from the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland produces the lactation hormone prolactin through estrogen and progesterone. At the same time, HPL is produced in the placenta. This hormone stimulates the development of mammary gland tissue and causes breast enlargement. During pregnancy, little breast milk is formed because progesterone binds to receptors of the mammary gland and thus still blocks milk formation. The main milk formation takes place after the birth of the child. The shedding of the placenta marks the beginning of this process. After detachment, less progesterone is present in the mother’s body and milk formation is no longer blocked. From this point on, prolactin can stimulate milk production unhindered. After the child is born, the hormone oxytocin also plays a crucial role in the lactation reflex. This hormone is released in high quantities during the birth of the child, for example, as soon as the baby descends into the mother’s body. Oxytocin causes milk to shoot into the mammary glands. How much milk is produced and shoots in from the time the baby is born depends on demand. The infant’s sucking motion on the maternal breast stimulates hormone production, milk production, and milk secretion. Milk flow can be thought of as a muscular contraction around the excretory ducts of the mammary gland. In part, crying or the mere sight of the infant can also support lactation reflexes by releasing hormones.
Diseases and medical conditions
After pregnancy, some mothers feel that they do not have enough milk for their baby. In most cases, this phenomenon is due to incorrect breastfeeding behavior. The more often the infant drinks at the mother’s breast, the more prolactin is released and the higher the milk production. If the infant is only breastfed a little, less milk is produced and milk production is also lower. In individual cases, milk engorgement may also be present. In this phenomenon, sufficient milk is produced, but it can no longer escape. Some infants have a reduced sucking reflex. If the reflex is not sufficiently intense, this can have a negative effect on the mother’s milk-forming reflexes.Psychological factors also play a role in milk-forming reflexes. For example, people who are under a lot of stress produce less milk. The same applies to feelings of anxiety, pressure, hectic or pain. In addition to temporary separation of mother and child and incorrect breastfeeding behavior, psychological factors are sometimes the most common cause of disturbed lactation reflexes. Apart from the above-mentioned causes, disturbed lactation can also be caused by physical ailments. This is true, for example, in the context of tumor diseases. Benign tumors of the pituitary gland cause a hormonal deficiency of prolactin or oxytocin in individual cases. This deficiency has an inhibitory effect on lactation reflexes. When the tumor is removed, milk production settles to a normal level in most cases. Not only a reduction of the lactation reflexes can have disease value, but also an extreme amplification. Suspicious in this context is especially the milk production outside pregnancy and lactation. Hormones are also the most important cause in this context. For example, increased production of prolactin and oxytocin can stimulate milk production and flow even independently of pregnancy. Psychological factors also play a role in this. Equally well, a disease of the glands can be the cause of milk overproduction. Some benign tumors, for example, release hormones and thus disrupt the hormonal balance. However, other glandular diseases are also conceivable causes.
