The science behind breastfeeding mindfully
6 min read
The science behind breastfeeding mindfully
In a society that loves to focus its attention on the glorification of pregnancy, it seems sadly predictable that postnatal mums can end up feeling sidelined when the ‘newness' of a newborn wears off (and much of the endurance work begins). And when we add into the mix our recent experiences of lockdown isolation, limitations on birth support, children’s centres & breastfeeding cafes shutting up shop, postnatal check-ups relegated to a quick phone call, an NHS under strain and a significant decline in maternal mental health…I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, there’s been a hell of a lot for new parents to deal with these past 2 years. Having been one of these floundering new mums myself is what led me to train as an ABM Mother Supporter and to set up my own community group to help deal (in some small way) with what is now being identified as a perinatal mental health crisis.
Now, pandemic aside, I can’t say I’ve come across a single person who has transitioned into parenthood without feeling a pretty seismic shift. Everything changes. I’m not just talking physically or in terms of relationships, finances, identity, lack of sleep or your social life.
Evidence shows that for the birthing parent, the changes taking place are neurological too. After decades of research into observing the behavioural changes in new mothers, neuroscientists are only just beginning to definitively link postnatal women’s behaviour with what’s happening in her prefrontal cortex, the changes to the concentration of grey matter found in the brain and the increase of activity in the regions that control social interaction, anxiety and empathy.
Nature has designed these changes to take place for a purpose, of course ultimately to keep new mothers focused on the survival of their offspring. But, what if your experience of these changes is contributing negatively to your mental wellbeing or mindset about motherhood?
Never mind the (physiologically impossible) notion of “getting your pre-baby body back”, but can you ever get your pre-baby brain back?! And if those neurological changes are inevitable surely there’s very little we can do about it? And moreover, what on earth has all this brain stuff got to do with the physical act of breastfeeding?!
Neuroplasticity is our brain’s ability to adapt and change. Unlike the outdated belief that our intellect was predestined or fixed from birth, we now know that challenging ourselves to learn new things means we’re enabling our brains to make new neural pathways. The brain is like a muscle, the more we exercise it in a particular way the stronger that neural pathway it becomes. Just as breastfeeding is a learned skill for both mum and baby, (and my god can it be a hard one to learn if we’ve never really seen or talked about it prior to birth), our mindset about it is also something that we can learn to embrace.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that simply changing one’s mindset is enough to overcome the myriad of genuine physical difficulties some women experience when learning to breastfeed. However, we surely must give more consideration to the fact that breastfeeding relies on both physiological AND psychological processes in order to take place. Both Prolactin (the hormone that tells our milk-making cells to physically make more milk) and Oxytocin (the feel-good hormone that triggers our squeezy cells to eject the milk) are equally important.
Oxytocin can only be produced when we are relaxed and residing in our Parasympathetic nervous system, the opposite of our “Flight, Fight, Freeze” response. It is this branch of our autonomic nervous system where we are most calm, content and relaxed - hence is also known as the state of Rest and Digest. When we are experiencing stress, fear or anxiety, (and let's face it, who doesn’t in those early weeks and months?) we produce cortisol - the inhibitor of oxytocin.
Practising mindfulness techniques such as the ones we use in our ITAV sessions (breathwork, guided relaxation and positive affirmations) encourages us to reside in this relaxed state. This helps us calm our nervous system and produce the oxytocin not only necessary for effective breastfeeding but also for providing an overall sense of wellbeing and connection for mum and baby. In addition, a recent study (Stube et al 2012) concluded that low oxytocin levels can also have other negative outcomes such as decreasing our pain threshold and increasing the likelihood of maternal depression.
Taking this one step further, what if I told you that taking part in regular guided relaxations can actually significantly increase the amount of breastmilk produced, improve babies growth rates and sleep outcomes too?
In July 2019, sixty-four women who’d just given birth were split into two groups for a research study. One group listened to guided relaxations twice a day for the first 2 weeks and then, as much as possible afterwards. The other group didn’t. Both groups had access to plenty of other traditional breastfeeding support. Researchers reviewed mums and their babies at 2, 6, 12 and 14 weeks, measuring the cortisol levels in their breast milk, the amount of milk intake the babies were having, their weight gain and sleep duration, as well as the mothers’ stress and anxiety levels.
After the first 2 weeks, the relaxation group had (as you would expect) significantly lower stress levels and lower amounts of cortisol present. But, here’s where it gets interesting… At 6 weeks, the babies from the relaxation group were sleeping on average 82 minutes more a day. That’s pretty significant, right?! The babies in that group also had a higher weight gain and body mass than the control group. By 12 weeks, those babies were taking in on average 227 grams more breastmilk. Researchers concluded that for those mums taking regular guided relaxations there was an increase in signalling (connection and communication of need) between mum & baby. This in turn could be what changed their feeding habits and breastmilk composition. And of course, the cherry on the cake - lower stress levels led to more sleep for everyone!
As a Mindful Breastfeeding Practitioner, studying this stuff and being able to offer mums mindfulness tools fills me with such passion. My education with The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers has given me the knowledge and skills to listen, understand and signpost mums to traditional breastfeeding support.
And by combining this with mindful practice, new parents can learn to harness the mind/body connection too. My hope is that the creation of this 'village' will help us all feel more positive and proactive about nurturing our tiny humans just as much as we nurture ourselves.
