The things that human bodies are capable of are nothing short of incredible. When a woman gets pregnant and gives birth, the changes that happen are mystifying. Little things happen to prepare us for sustaining the little lives we've created. These little, incredible things often go unnoticed, which is why one mom wanted to draw attention to an experience of her own. Mallory Smothers took to Facebook to share some interesting facts she learned about breast milk, and her post quickly went viral.
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Mallory was reading up on breastfeeding and discovered that breast milk undergoes slight changes from feeding to feeding (or pumping) based on the needs of the baby. This popped back into her mind when she was up late one night, breastfeeding her daughter. The little girl seemed to be coming down with a cold. When Mallory pumped the next day, she didn't think much of it. It wasn't until she looked at the breast milk pumped from the day before and the day after her daughter's cold that she made her discovery.
Moms are incredible. What happens to a woman's body in the process of pregnancy and childbirth is truly miraculous. Those incredible processes don't stop there, however. They continue as a woman provides for her child.
Mallory Smothers is a mom in Arkansas. She was breastfeeding her daughter when she started reading up on the subject. When she saw one of the changes she learned about in action with her own body, she took to Facebook to share it with others.
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She began in the now-viral Facebook post:
“So yall.. This is just cuckoo awesome– I read an article from a medical journal not too long ago about how Mom’s milk changes to tailor baby’s needs in more ways than just caloric intake.”
Mallory began to explain what the article she read discussed:
“So this doctor discusses that when a baby nurses, it creates a vacuum in which the infant’s saliva sneaks into the mother’s nipple. There, it is believed that mammary gland receptors interpret the ‘baby spit backwash’ for bacteria and viruses and, if they detect something amiss (i.e., the baby is sick or fighting off an infection), Mom’s body will actually change the milk’s immunological composition, tailoring it to the baby’s particular pathogens by producing customized antibodies.”
Mallory then referenced a 2013 article from Clinical & Translational Immunology. The article, titled "Maternal and Infant Infections Stimulate a Rapid Leukocyte Response in Breast Milk," explains that when a baby is unwell, the number of leukocytes in breast milk rise significantly.
Mallory hadn't thought much about that information after reading about it. It wasn't until her own daughter caught a cold that she got to see it in action. Along with the post, she shared a photo of two bags of her own breast milk.
Mallory explained her own feeding/pumping schedule for context:
“I pumped the milk on the left Thursday night before we laid down for bed. I nurse Baby every 2 hours or so overnight and don’t pump until we get up for the day.”
In the middle of the night, Mallory noticed her daughter wasn't quite herself:
“I noticed in the wee hours of Friday morning, 3 AM or so– she was congested, irritable, and sneezing ALOT. Probably a cold, right?”
The next morning, Mallory pumped the milk that's seen in the bag on the right. "I didn't notice a difference until today, but look at how much more the milk I produced Friday resembles colostrum," she explained.
Colostrum is the first form of breast milk produced by the mammary glands after a woman gives birth. It contains antibodies and leukocytes that help protect newborns against illness. It's also packed with nutrients and protein.
Mallory was surprised to see how her breast milk changed after breastfeeding a sick child. "Pretty awesome huh?! The human body never ceases to amaze me," she concluded the post. She never expected that sharing the information would lead to a viral sensation.
Mallory's post has over 80,000 shares to date. People are fascinated by the things they learn about breast milk. Another recent discovery finds that breast milk may help develop the circadian rhythms of babies.
Breastfeeding is a pretty wonderful process and does wonders for helping a mom provide what she needs for a little one. Of course, it's still a controversial subject on a number of levels. Like everything else with parenting, all of these choices are personal.
Whether or not you are able to or decide to breastfeed, it's nice to learn more about what our bodies are capable of. It's how we've gotten this far as a species and how we continue to thrive.
