I’m serious.
lol it doesn’t sound like a serious question from a guy, but I’m very curious. How does the female body know to produce milk when she is pregnant. Also.. where does it come from? It’s like.. you’re pregnant.. and all of a sudden, you have milk in your body (breasts). How does it form? How is it milk? I’ve never thought about it, but now that I have.. it’s so weird.
I think, when I was a kid i thought that mothers just drank milk and it passes down to the baby. LOL.. Anyway.. this can go for all mammals, not just humans.
So the milk gland.. has all the natural stuff in it that produces this liquid? It goes from nothing to bottles full. And if a woman never gets pregnant.. these glands stay inactive? Interesting…
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4 responses so far ↓
1 »-(¯`v´¯)-» мaякs ωifee ♡ // Sep 13, 2008
It's all about the hormones ..
When a woman becomes pregnant her body produces the HCG Hormone (pregnancy hormone) and after *about* 37-40 weeks of having that hormone in her body, breast milk is produced.
On a rare occasion the milk is produced earlier in pregnancy, but usually around the 38th week.
The milk is produced through the milk glands and passed through the nipples (which is also present in men.) .. men can also produce milk (if they really wanted too!
2 cigaro19 // Sep 13, 2008
Well it is activated by hormones, and the milk is produced by the milk glands in the breasts, which are present in all men and women. Technically a man is capable of producing milk if he really wanted to!
3 Nimbus // Sep 13, 2008
The milk forms in lots of tiny ducts called alveoli, which join bigger ducts which drain to the holes in the nipple (there are several). The formation is controlled by hormones (prolactin and oxytocin), as is the "letdown" of milk (oxytocin). Lactogenesis (milk production) is continous when it starts, ie it is forming even as the baby empties the breast. The more the baby drinks, the more milk is produced, to match demand. That is a really basic version of what happens!
The main component of milk is water, and it also contains milk proteins (eg casein, immunoglobulins - which provide some immunity for the newborn), fat, sugar (lactose), ash (yes, you read that right), and other minerals.
The actual formation in the alveoli occurs when secretory cells secrete milk - which they "make" from the metabolites in the blood stream (again a very simplified explanation - quite complex how it actually happens).
4 stephanie n // Sep 13, 2008
I have know non pregnant women produce milk when they have a hormone imbalance …But for us producing mothers basically the more the baby sucks the more our body produces …a baby who is a slow sucker(small baby) will get less and a strong sucker (big baby) more so the baby gets what it needs.and you just keep making it till your baby stops sucking …in my case 2 and a half years each ,5 kids …If the glans get blocked a good massage in the shower helps..