The Fuzzy Brain During Breastfeeding

If you are a nursing mother, you are likely to feel more and more distracted and forgetful, that you miss twenty things a day and even that confusion defines you to the point of feeling frustrated.

This lack of concentration is often a side effect of breastfeeding. This is because hormones do their thing and create a stir in our brain, blinding us and flooding us with substances that cloud our reason.

Mothers can be alarmed by the mental fog, which contributes to generalize a state of nervousness that can play tricks. Also, let’s not forget that this hormonal cascade is joined by lack of sleep and even time.

What happens to the brain in this period?

Let’s say this happens because the parts of the brain that take care of precision and focus take care of protecting and tracking the newborn for the first six months.

As a consequence, the mother of an infant may not be able to articulate words or follow moderately intellectually demanding conversations. In other words, somehow agility and mental acuity are lost.

However, the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the costs. Babies are perfect neurological partners and the communicative exchange that takes place through breastfeeding generates an explosion of neural connections in the mother’s brain.

The degree of hormonal response in the brain will depend on how long and how often a baby nurses. Thus, the more you do it, the greater the response burst of substances such as prolactin and oxytocin (hormones mainly responsible for strengthening the affective bond).

Thus, a simple look, a simple gesture or a small touch will be enough for the idea of ​​feeding the baby to arise and the breasts begin to heat up and to drip milk. For the child, this reward is immediate, since he will not only feed himself but also feel the love and support he receives from his mother.

Weaning withdrawal

Mothers often experience withdrawal symptoms when they are separated from their offspring. In this sense, they are likely to feel fear, anxiety and even panic.

These symptoms derive from a neurochemical rather than a psychological state. This appears to occur as a consequence of the brain being subtly primed to disrupt hormone levels if there is a separation between mother and child.

So when weaning occurs, mothers experience these same symptoms. In addition, it is often the case that the abandonment of breastfeeding coincides with the return to work, so this ends up taking a toll on the mother’s psychological state.

Many mothers soften this state by expressing milk from their breasts as they work whenever they can, thus reducing the habit of breastfeeding more gradually. Then, for example, on weekends they breastfeed their children.

In this way, not only milk production is guaranteed, but also the emotional and physiological pleasure that breastfeeding generates for both mother and baby.