In plain words
Galactopoiesis is the stage that keeps milk flowing after production has started. In the first weeks, it depends heavily on how much milk is removed from the breast. Milk left in the breast signals the body to slow production. Milk removed often and well signals it to keep going. Mothers may hear the term from a when talking about supply over time. It is not the same as the , which is the earlier switch. Supply in this stage is shaped by feeding, pumping, hormones, and health. Many factors interact, so a single cause is rare. Clinicians often look first at how milk is being removed when supply seems to change.
The deeper version
Lactogenesis III, or galactopoiesis, is maintained by acting permissively on alveolar epithelium, with local . in milk rises when milk stasis occurs and suppresses synthesis. This mechanism is supported by animal work and by observational human data on residual milk and supply (Neville, Morton, and Umemura, Pediatric Clinics of North America, 2001). governs rather than synthesis. Prolactin receptor density is set in part by early frequent stimulation, which is the physiological argument for and frequent feeding in the first days. The debate centers on how much human supply is endocrine rather than local, and whether low prolactin in mothers with low supply is a cause or a consequence.
Where it comes up
- How breastfeeding works: supply and demandFeeding Your Baby
- Low milk supply: real, perceived, and what helpsFeeding Your Baby
- Relactation and induced lactationFeeding Your Baby
- Hand expression and collecting colostrum before birthFeeding Your Baby
What mothers here say about galactopoiesis
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Neville MC, Morton J, Umemura S — Lactogenesis: the transition from pregnancy to lactation. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 2001