Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Further thoughts to my post yesterday regarding Breastfeeding or Chestfeeding.
To be a suckling mother is a beautiful blessing. When a mother nurses her baby, God releases in her the hormones of oxytocin and prolactin. Both are both very special hormones which are a boon and blessing to the mother.
Oxytocin is released by the pituitary gland and is the hormone that stimulates the mother’s let-down or milk-ejection reflex. This incredible molecule of motherly love is called by many other different names:
The stress relieving hormone,
The calming hormone, even reducing blood pressure, cortisol levels, fear, anxiety, and staving off psychological as well as physiological problems,
The life hormone,
The love hormone,
The cuddle hormone,
The bonding hormone,
The empathy hormone,
The trust hormone, and even
The bliss hormone!
Who wouldn’t want to have this hormone? Every mother should want to get as much of it as she can. It’s a great way to live instead of filled with anxiety and stress. And this is the blessing God gives to every nursing mother. The secret: keep nursing your baby as long as you can!
Prolactin is another wonderful hormone. It’s a very strong protective hormone. They have done studies to find that when they inject this hormone into a rooster it becomes “clucky” and begins to mother the chickens. A female animal nursing her young in the wild will fight to death any other animal that comes near her young.
The release of prolactin when nursing causes the mother to become more motherly and very protective of her baby.
Many scientific studies also reveal that lengthy nursing of babies is a deterrent to breast cancer and other female cancers. And this is apart from all the blessings to the baby.
O yes, Isaiah 66:11 calls it “glory.” God’s way is always the best way.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Panting: one of Katie m. Berggren’s lovely paintings.
Words and ideas are indivisible with God. It is the same with us. Our ideas and thoughts about any issue determine what we confess about it. And get this. What we confess is how we live! Our confession determines our lifestyle.
What do you think about motherhood? What you think in your mind is what you’ll confess with your mouth.
Do you complain about mothering? Do you relegate it to something inferior? Or is your confession, "I LOVE MOTHERHOOD"? When you begin to confess that you love motherhood, you’ll find your attitude changes! The atmosphere in your home changes. Even your children’s behavior changes!
How do you think about your marriage? Do you complain to others about your husband? Do you speak disrespectfully about your marriage? Or do you confess wonderful things about your husband? It all depends on how you think. And what you think is what you’ll say. And what you say is how you’ll live. You either enjoy or endure your marriage according to your attitude and confession.
Let’s get our thinking straight. Not falling into fleshly feelings which are only temporary. Let’s gird up the loins of our mind and bring every thought into captivity to Christ. It’s a much more exciting, positive, and overcoming way to live.
Have a wonderful day,
Nancy Campbell