Your mind-body connection to pumping
It may come as no surprise to learn that what’s going on between your body and your mind can directly impact your relationship with pumping. If you are experiencing challenges with pumping, and you’ve already done some troubleshooting and ruled out issues such as flange fit, the next thing to consider is your mind-body connection.
Pumping requires oxytocin
First, it’s important to understand that your body releases oxytocin with each letdown of milk. Dr. Laurie Jones, a pediatrician and founder of Dr. MILK (Mothers Interested in Lactation Knowledge), says it usually takes about a minute to stimulate a letdown; if your initial and subsequent letdowns aren’t kicking in until after a couple minutes of pump-induced letdown stimulation, this might be because of an interference in your mind-body connection.
“How fast you pump, and how much milk you empty, is 100 percent driven by oxytocin,” Dr. Jones says. “Everyone has a spigot in their brain. For each person, there are things that make it go faster and things that slow it down.”
This spigot can be pretty individualized, but the basic physiology is consistent among those who pump. If you’re anxious, or your thoughts are racing, your pulse can speed up, and you won’t be in a relaxed enough state—mentally or physiologically—to produce oxytocin.
Dr. Jones likens a letdown to sexual arousal. There are things that interfere with arousal, such as stress and anxiety, and things that help, such as relaxing and being in the moment. “Slow letdown is like erectile dysfunction of the breast; it’s conceptually the same,” she says.
If you’re wondering why direct breastfeeding can feel easier than pumping, it’s because when you are breastfeeding, your baby’s scents, sounds, and movements are right there, helping stimulate oxytocin. If you’re exclusively pumping or pumping to establish breastfeeding, and you experience trouble either with letdown or volume (or maybe both), the trick is to figure out what helps stimulate your oxytocin—and what basically acts like a buzzkill. Dr. Jones suggests asking yourself the following questions about how you prefer to pump:
- Do I need to be alone?
- Do I need a quiet space?
- Do I need white noise?
- Do I need to focus on something else?
The answers may help you understand what could be interfering with your letdown and your broader pumping experience.
Here are some things that can both speed up and slow down your oxytocin.
Oxytocin likes….
A calm heart rate: “If you’ve got a smart watch, and you can see that your heart rate is 110, a pumping session won’t go well. Get it down to 80 first,” Dr. Jones advises. Take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
Your baby’s scent: Keep an item of clothing or a blanket that includes your baby’s scent nearby. This can have a calming effect on you, which can help with oxytocin release1.
Visualizations: Imagine whichever peaceful environment you need to feel calm in both your mind and body. It may also help to look at a photo of your baby.
Calming music: Music can help with oxytocin production, and studies have shown that listening to calming music can make you more relaxed, which can help you produce more milk2,3.
Joy: Things that make you happy will help trigger oxytocin. “Every mom could be different,” Dr. Jones says. “Maybe it’s a funny or silly video, or watching your partner hold the baby.”
Hydration: If you aren’t drinking enough water, pumping is going to be more challenging. “Drink before, during, and after pumping. Oxytocin release triggers thirst, whether you’re aware of it or not,” Dr. Jones explains.
Oxytocin dislikes….
Feelings of anxiety, worry, or stress: “These emotions can make pumping take longer than it should, with fewer letdowns,” Dr. Jones says. If you’re pumping at the office, she advises staying away from a live video of your baby at home or day care center, as doing so could make you feel sad, guilty, or anxious about not being there.
Extreme fatigue: All moms are tired; that’s a given. Fatigue—and worse, insomnia—could impact your ability to release oxytocin and therefore pump.
Dread: “If you have dread before your baby latches, it will take two and a half minutes for milk to come down versus 30 seconds,” Dr. Jones says. The same goes for pumping, she says.
An audience: You might find that nursing in front of other people is much easier than pumping with other people in the room. “Pumping in front of other people more commonly hurts the experience and the flow of oxytocin,” Dr. Jones says.
To help improve your mind-body connection when pumping, Dr. Jones recommends reminding yourself that you and your breasts are not in a battle: “You and your boobs are in this together,” she says.
Create an imaginary force field around yourself, she adds. “Do whatever you have to do to put this bubble over you, where you’re shielded from your own thoughts and attention for that 5 to 20 minutes it takes to pump, so you can let go, and let the milk come out.”
References
1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16112264/
2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36175904/
3 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22469966/
Additional resources
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