🤱 Mother
Also known as: mom
Feeds her child breast milk.
In the world of milk, a mother is the one who feeds a baby with breast milk. All mammals work this way: after giving birth, the female makes milk for her young. In women, this process is called lactation.
Lactation is controlled by hormones. The hormone prolactin “switches on” milk production in the breast. The hormone oxytocin pushes the milk towards the nipple when the baby sucks at the breast. This is called the let-down reflex. The more milk the baby drinks, the more milk is made.
The first milk after birth is colostrum. There is not much of it, but it has many antibodies — special proteins that protect the baby from infections. Over about two weeks, colostrum is gradually replaced by mature breast milk. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises putting the baby to the breast within the first hour after birth. For the first six months, it is best to feed only breast milk, with no water or other food. Then other foods are added, and breastfeeding can go on to two years and beyond. If breastfeeding is not possible, the baby is fed donor milk or infant formula.
How it connects to milk
🤱 Mother → gives → 🥛 Breast milk → type of → 🥛 Milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Breast milk
- Feeds
- 👶 Child, ❤️ Breastfeeding
- Who
- 🧑 Human
- Part of
- 🤱 Who drinks milk: young animals and feeding
- Wine and milk
- 🍷 Alcohol in pregnancy
Frequently asked questions
What is colostrum?
It is the mother's first milk in the first days after birth. There is little of it, but it has many antibodies that protect the baby from infections.
How many months should a baby be exclusively breastfed?
The WHO advises feeding only breast milk for the first 6 months, then adding other foods and continuing to breastfeed to two years and beyond.
Which hormones control breast milk?
Prolactin starts milk production, and oxytocin pushes the milk to the nipple during feeding.
What to read next
- 👶 Child — The main consumer of milk: breast milk, formula, milk porridge.
- 🍷 Alcohol in pregnancy — Alcohol harms the unborn child, so during pregnancy the advice is not to drink at all.
- 🧑 Human — Also a mammal; the only species that milks other animals itself and drinks their milk throughout life.