Breastfeeding - How Your Breasts Produce Milk?

Milk is produced and stored in the glandular tissue (alveoli) of your breasts. It collects in pockets (lactiferous sinuses) located beneath the areola (the dark area around the nipple) until it is released by a baby's sucking. Stimulation of the nipples causes the mother's pituitary gland, located in the brain, to secrete prolactin, which initiates and maintains milk production. The first milk your baby receives at each feeding is the milk that has collected in the pockets between feedings. This low-fat foremilk is high in protein and satisfies the baby's thirst. As breastfeeding continues, a second hormone called oxytocin is secreted. Oxytocin causes the tissue around the alveoli to contract, thus squeezing the high-fat hindmilk down the ducts and into the pockets where it is available to satisfy your baby's hunger.

Many mothers experience a tingling or rushing sensation in the breasts as this "let down," or milk ejection reflex (MER), occurs. Other mothers notice only that sucking becomes longer and slower, and that baby begins to swallow rhythmically. Keys to establishing a quick let-down are relaxation and confidence that your body is doing exactly what it was designed to do: feeding your baby the world's best baby milk -- produced by you!