In plain words
Let-down is the . When a baby sucks, or when you pump or think about your baby, the body releases a hormone called . That hormone makes the small muscle cells around the milk sacs squeeze, and milk moves toward the nipple. Many mothers feel a tingling, a warm rush, or a tightening. Some feel nothing, and milk still flows. Let-down can be strong at first and then ease over time. Stress, pain, or a cold room can make it harder to start for some mothers. Some mothers have a sharp, fast rush that can make a baby cough or pull off. Feeling a let-down is not a measure of how much milk you make. A can help if feeds feel uncomfortable or if the baby struggles with the flow.
The deeper version
The milk ejection reflex is a neuroendocrine reflex in which suckling or expression stimulates mechanoreceptors in the nipple and . Afferent signals reach the hypothalamus, which releases oxytocin in pulses from the posterior pituitary. Oxytocin contracts myoepithelial cells around alveoli and ducts, and milk is moved toward the nipple. Central inhibition by stress, pain, and catecholamines can reduce or delay the reflex. Ejection can be seen on ultrasound and on pumped volume patterns. Ramsay and colleagues (2005) used ultrasound to describe the ductal anatomy that the ejection reflex acts on. The controversy concerns whether the sensation of let-down predicts intake, and how much variation in timing counts as normal.
Where it comes up
- Oversupply and forceful letdownFeeding Your Baby
- How breastfeeding works: supply and demandFeeding Your Baby
- Getting a deep latchFeeding Your Baby
- Pumping: how, when, how oftenFeeding Your Baby
- Breastfeeding positionsFeeding Your Baby
What mothers here say about let-down
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- La Leche League International — The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
- Ramsay DT, Kent JC, Hartmann RA, Hartmann PE — Anatomy of the lactating human breast redefined with ultrasound imaging. Journal of Anatomy, 2005