When your baby nurses at the breast, it sends a message to your brain. The brain signals hormones, prolactin and oxytocin to be released. Prolactin sends the message to the alveoli to begin making milk. Oxytocin causes muscles around the alveoli to push milk out through the milk ducts. Milk release is called the let-down reflex.
Some mothers (not all) may feel
tingling, fullness, dull ache, or tightening in the breasts
(although some moms do not feel any of these sensations).Milk may drip from the breasts. Cramping may occur after you put baby to the breast during the first few days after birth . (Uterine Contractions). These uterine contractions help decrease bleeding and shrink uterus back down to pre pregnancy size. Your baby helps you make milk by stimulating the breast through suckeling and removing milk from your breast. The more time spent removing milk the more milk your body will make. Frequent breastfeeding / milk removal (10-12 times or more every 24 hours), especially in the first few days and weeks of your baby's life, helps you make a enough milk for your baby or babies. Milk will continue to vary according to your baby's needs. Each time baby feeds, your body knows to make more milk for the next feeding. An empty feeling breast signals the brain to make more milk. A full feeling breast signals the brain to reduce supply. The amount of milk you make will go up or down depending on how often your baby eats. By nursing for as often and as long as your baby wants, you are helping your body to make more milk. At first, it might feel like you are doing nothing but breastfeeding Soon, you and your baby will get into a pattern that is more predictable. It's like learning to dance, sometimes you step on each-other's feet at first, but soon after you are both moving in harmony with one another.
