Question

Milk is present in Suzie’s breast, but it won’t come out. There could be a problem with a hormone secreted from the

Answer 1

That is not unusual. The nursing mother’s breast may be engorged and full of milk, but it won’t come out of the nipple. Milk production and nursing is not a simple process. Once the breasts are full of milk, another mechanism ejects the milk out of the nipple. Continuous sucking on the nipple stimulates the hypothalamus of the brain (yeah, it goes up from there), which secretes oxytocin that contracts the cells blocking the milk ducts, allowing milk to come out of the nipple. If milk won’t come out, the patient might have deficiency in oxytocin. In that case, try having the newborn continuously suck on the breast for few minutes.