Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199755059
- eISBN:
- 9780199979479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755059.003.0017
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
This commentary gives an extended and comprehensive description of the effect spectrum caused by oxytocin beyond that of milk ejection. Based on the role of oxytocin as an integrator of behavioral ...
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This commentary gives an extended and comprehensive description of the effect spectrum caused by oxytocin beyond that of milk ejection. Based on the role of oxytocin as an integrator of behavioral and physiological adaptations during breastfeeding, it proposes a possible connection between the frequent exposure of oxytocin and some of the long-term health-promoting effects seen following breastfeeding. Second, research demonstrates the consequences of touch and pain in infants and their mothers and how massage can induce beneficial effects in mothers and infants presumably by activation of touch fibers. Complementary information on the structure and function of the sensory nerves that innervate the skin is provided. Skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant is a natural way of stimulating sensory nerves emanating from the skin.Less
This commentary gives an extended and comprehensive description of the effect spectrum caused by oxytocin beyond that of milk ejection. Based on the role of oxytocin as an integrator of behavioral and physiological adaptations during breastfeeding, it proposes a possible connection between the frequent exposure of oxytocin and some of the long-term health-promoting effects seen following breastfeeding. Second, research demonstrates the consequences of touch and pain in infants and their mothers and how massage can induce beneficial effects in mothers and infants presumably by activation of touch fibers. Complementary information on the structure and function of the sensory nerves that innervate the skin is provided. Skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant is a natural way of stimulating sensory nerves emanating from the skin.
Maia Boswell-Penc
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781447338499
- eISBN:
- 9781447338543
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447338499.003.0016
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter begins by considering the specific context of the workplace as it presents significant barriers to women seeking to continue breastfeeding as they return to work. From there, the chapter ...
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This chapter begins by considering the specific context of the workplace as it presents significant barriers to women seeking to continue breastfeeding as they return to work. From there, the chapter considers lactating working mothers alongside lactating (working) cows, the source of most infant formula that non-nursing mothers use. Considering both lactating mothers and lactating cows, the chapter reveals that increasing degrees of embodiment correspond with increasing degrees of individual, public, and planetary health. Breast milk for young ones and non-dairy milk for others emerges as critical to securing optimal health for all; additionally, as research has surfaced pointing to ways in which we make healthier decisions when we focus on others, compassion becomes an entry into moving into practices that support global health. As research into ‘kangaroo care’ — skin-to-skin engagement with infants — suggests, full embodiment increases compassion, just as breastfeeding increases oxytocin. Compassion in its broadest sense may become part of the toolbox that can help breastfeeding professionals make a case for exclusive and extended breastfeeding.Less
This chapter begins by considering the specific context of the workplace as it presents significant barriers to women seeking to continue breastfeeding as they return to work. From there, the chapter considers lactating working mothers alongside lactating (working) cows, the source of most infant formula that non-nursing mothers use. Considering both lactating mothers and lactating cows, the chapter reveals that increasing degrees of embodiment correspond with increasing degrees of individual, public, and planetary health. Breast milk for young ones and non-dairy milk for others emerges as critical to securing optimal health for all; additionally, as research has surfaced pointing to ways in which we make healthier decisions when we focus on others, compassion becomes an entry into moving into practices that support global health. As research into ‘kangaroo care’ — skin-to-skin engagement with infants — suggests, full embodiment increases compassion, just as breastfeeding increases oxytocin. Compassion in its broadest sense may become part of the toolbox that can help breastfeeding professionals make a case for exclusive and extended breastfeeding.
