Anaqi Niche

Direct link : http://birthfaith.org/mothering/oozing-oxytocin

Rahsia kenapa baby suka ngempeng. Kenapa suka sangat nak BF sampai takleh letak. Macam mana nak buat. Macam saya selalu duk ulang, baby yg clingy, takleh letak ni adalah sbb dia nak duk kat mak dia. Mak kena rajin pegang baby, cuddle baby, bukannya dia nak sangat BF tu, dia nak mak pegang, tapi mak tak faham, so dia “gigit” aje nipple supaya mak takleh lepas. Enjoy reading!

Several weeks ago, I was at a friend’s house while she was babysitting a newborn.  This little one started to cry not long after her momma left.  Try as she might, my friend couldn’t console that little baby.  She wouldn’t take the bottle her mom had left either.  Eventually, my friend turned to me and said, “Do you want to try?” So I took that little baby. Within moments, she was calm.  Soon, I was able to get her to drink some of her bottle, and she fell asleep for a bit in my arms.

I don’t think my friend was doing anything “wrong,” and I don’t think I was doing anything “right.” But it was apparent that this little one could tell a difference between us. Knowing what I know now, I’d say she could smell and feel that difference. I’ve often heard and read that babies prefer the smell of lactating women to non-lactating women. I’m a lactating mother. I (or, more accurately, my boobs) smell good to babies. But I don’t think it was just the smell of my milk that calmed that little one.

Kerstin Uvnas-Moberg has been studying oxytocin longer than most. In her research, she discovered that injecting male rats with oxytocin would create a domino effect of sorts. The other rats in the cage could smell the increased oxytocin levels among their cage-mates and their own bodies responded by releasing more oxytocin. They also became more calm as a result.  I’d say it is reasonable to assume that we, too, respond to the oxytocin levels of the people around us. (Via Hug the Monkey)

I don’t doubt that the little baby I consoled could smell/sense my hightened oxytocin levels. It’s likely that my body’s oxytocin prompted her own body to de-stress with a surge of oxytocin. With her mind and body soothed, she was able to eat in peace.

I’m also reminded of a blogpost I wrote after my doula training in February of ’09. I explained:

The people surrounding the laboring woman can enter into a kind of “zone” in which their bodies start producing hormones in response to the laboring woman’s hormones. A woman in labor is radiating oxytocin like nothing else. And I think the people around her–if in-tune with her through their consistent presence–will also experience a surge in their own oxytocin levels. It makes complete sense.

You hear birthworkers talk often about the “birth high,” and I think oxytocin has a lot to do with it.

Oxytocin has been called the “hormone of love,” so it’s totally fascinating (to me) to recognize that we can literally radiate love when we have high oxytocin levels. The people around us may even be able to smell our radiating love and will feel calm and peaceful in our presence! How cool is that? As I think about people in my life, I could probably accurately guess whose oxytocin levels are highest based on how I feel in their presence. There are people in my life who radiate stress and anxiety and people in my life who radiate calmness and love. My body responds to these people accordingly. And guess who I am most drawn to and eager to spend time with?

So what can we do to increase our oxytocin levels and thereby radiate love and peace? An excellent article called “Bonding Matters: The Chemistry of Attachment,” by Linda F. Palmer, DC, shares several important facts about maximizing oxytocin levels in mothers and babies:

• “Attempts at nursing during the initial hour after birth cause oxytocin to surge to exceptional levels in both mother and baby.”
• “Beyond birth, mother continues to produce elevated levels of oxytocin as a consequence of nursing and holding her infant, and the levels are based on the amount of such contact.”
• “Oxytocin levels are higher in mothers who exclusively breastfeed than in those who use supplementary bottles.”
• “Prolonged high oxytocin in mother, father, or baby also promotes lower blood pressure and reduced heart rate as well as certain kinds of artery repair, actually reducing lifelong risk of heart disease.”
• “Persistent regular body contact and other nurturing acts by parents produce a constant, elevated level of oxytocin in the infant, which in turn provides a valuable reduction in the infant’s stress-hormone responses.”

I think it’s probably safe to say that babywearing is one of the absolute best things you can do for your own and your baby’s oxytocin levels. As we remain close to our babies, nurturing and feeding them in our arms, our oxytocin levels remain high, bathing ourselves and everyone around us with that hormone of love and calmness. What a gift nurturing mothers are to the world!

Once our children have weaned, we can still keep our oxytocin levels high through being physically affectionate with our loved ones. Years ago, I also learned that sharing a meal with others may boost oxytocin levels, especially when you’re eating from the same pot or dish. I wish I could find the original source, but I definitely believe it. One of the most pleasurable eating experiences of my life was sitting around a table with a group of people I love, eating fondue from the communal pot in the middle of the table and laughing all night. I’d guess our oxytocin levels were off the charts that night.

Listening to good music and singing are also great ways to boost your oxytocin levels. In a blogpost about the neuroscience of singing, church music blog explains:

Singing, particularly singing with other people, causes the brain to produce unusually high levels of oxytocin.  Just to double check, I found a study at the National Center for Biotechnology Information that lends credibility to this claim: when people sing together, their brains make oxytocin, and that makes them feel trust, solidarity, and connectedness with the people around them.

If you’ve ever sung in a choir, you know that incredible feeling that arises in the heart as voices harmonize and blend in unison. Oh I love that feeling. Oxytocin rocks.

All of this makes me want to hug more, cuddle more, breastfeed more, serve more, laugh more, and sing more. I want to be one of those people who radiates love at all times. I want to oooooze oxytocin. I want people to feel warm and happy in my presence. Maybe I’ll get there someday.

Do you think you can feel/smell/sense the oxytocin levels of the people around you? Do you have any cool examples?

Satu entry yang sentaps.. so beware.

Seperti yang di tajukkan. Saya tau, ramai wanita yang nak berhenti kerja, dan jaga anak2 di rumah. Tapi mengharapkan gaji suami tu apa la sangat kan.. Harapkan gaji suami, pakai tak bertukar la baju kami anak beranak. Rungutan yang selalu didengar dari kalangan ibu-ibu. Tapi kenapa rungutan ni tak didengar OLEH kaum suami eh. Saje korang tak dengar ke, korang buat-buat tak dengar. Kalau dengar tak tercabarkah? Kelelakian korang direndah2kan tak mampu nak bagi makan pakai anak bini..

Para suami duk berasa kalau dah kerja opis hour tu kira dah abis usaha dah.. Dah rasa dah abis dah part cari rezeki. Kalau tak cukup tu takperlah isteri tanggung. Ini la dikatakan zone OKU. Orang kurang upaya. Orang kurang upaya, eg orang buta, dia cuma bleh buat setakat mana mampu dgn kebutaan mata dia aje. Dah takleh exceed. Tapi suami-suami yang sempurna sifat ni, OKU kat mana ntah..Dah rasa takleh usaha lebih skit dah. Pi la cari kerja extra..

Yang isteri2 plak di Zone Selesa. Ada duit sendiri, bleh beli itu ini tanpa minta2 dari Hubby, betol? Rasa nak beli beg, beli kasut, bleh bali aje. Tak gaduh2 nak mintak duit Hubby. Ye ikutkan aje la napsu ko tuh. Suburlah Suburlah..Tahun depan ada anjakan gaji, bleh beli mahal skit lagi. Jadi sampai bila lah nak cukup perbelanjaan. Besar periuk, besar kerak.

Will you meet me half way?

Pernah dengarke ayat di atas. Kalau masing2 cuba usaha, mesti boleh. Suami cuba2 cari lobang lain utk cari rezeki. Isteri plak reti-reti la train nafsu supaya cukup benda2 yang asas aje. Ni baju, kalau tak se almari tak bleh. Baju kerja tu, kalau rotate sebulan pun bleh, tak ulang baju yang sama. Pergh, dasat..Kasut kalau tak 4 5 pasang, tak bleh, gatal kaki.. Ubat-ubat la gatal kaki tu dengan baca al-quran lebih skit ker. Tengok orang2 yang lebih susah..

Masing2 usaha ke arah yg lebih optimum.

Sapa ada tengok Bara Cinta Ramadhan  Sabtu lepas. Sapa salah bila jadi camtu. Bagi saya semua salah. Si Isteri salah sebab gi kawin ngan lelaki tu kat sempadan. Si Lelaki salah sebab asik duk takuk tu, asik kerja ngan orang, takde inisiatif, anak duk bertambah2, akal takde improvement.. Si mak nya pun salah, duk desak anak camtu..

Isteri-isteri yang rasa memang dia kerja sbb bantu suami, takper la.. carry on, takde salah pun..

Pernah ingat tak masa sekolah2 dulu, kita ada akedemik dan kita ada kokurikulum..Masa Uni pun, kita ada akedemik dan koko.. Saya nyer koko adalah Pelapes, tiap2 minggu sepanjang pengajian.. dari zaman sekolah kita dah belajar untuk utamakan akedemik berbanding koko, betul? Mak-mak kita akan tegur kalau kita melebihkan koko dari pelajaran, betul? Jangan main lebih sangat. Kat Uni pun saya belajar untuk seimbangkan Pelapes dengan pelajaran. Jangan sampai Pelapes tu memburukkan pelajaran saya. Jangan sampai koko menyebabkan kita lalai dari akedemik.

Perkara yang sama..Tugas utama, tugas core isteri dan ibu adalah dirumah. Didik anak sebaik mungkin, jaga amanah suami. Kerja (sekiranya benar bagai dikata,”hanya bantu suami”) jangan sampai mengganggu gugat tugas utama. Kalau zaman sekolah dulu, agak2 koko membebankan, mak-mak akan suruh drop aje koko tu. Sama jugak. kalau agak2 keja tu membebankan, sampai terabai tugas asal, sila fikir balik pasal kerja tu.

Kalau SATU tanggungjawab, iaitu berkhidmat dirumah pun gagal dipikul dengan baik. Macam mana kita nak cakap yang kita ni bagus dalam memikul tanggung jawab di pejabat? Malu seh.. depan hebat, kain belakang koyak rabak..Memang tidak dinafikan ada ibu2 yang hebat. bleh buat dua-dua (like my mom), then saya salute. Tapi cam saya ni, mmg terkontang kanting, bek takyah la..huhu

Ade ke rezeki yang datang bergolek? Takde buat apa2, datang aje rezeki. Duit ke apa ker..

Kebelakangan ni ada banyak gak peluang tambah rezeki. Tapi saya cam duk setempat aje.. Ada offer dari sana sini.. Tapi saya buat derk aje.. Bukan apa wahai kawan2 yang budiman.. Ku dah tak cukup tangan nak handle banyak2. Saya bukan la seorang superwoman cam kawan2. Saya ni seorang yang pemalas. Suka merileks aje.. Tiba2 dihempap dengan keja banyak ni, haru gak saya.. Terkocoh kocoh sana sini..Harap maaf ye bagi yang ajak kesana sini tu.. Serius nak ikut tapi tak dan.

Bila la nak terbiasa dengan rutin wanita career cam org lain ni.. masih terbawak2 pe el pemalas masa jadi housewife. Haha.. Rasa nak tidur, bungkus anak2, heret tidur.. kehkehkeh..

Ada tak rezeki datang bergolek?

Ada, bleh bernafas free ni, tak bergolek ke? Tu kira dah bergolek la tu. Sihat wal afiat.. Takde sakit kronik. Cuma ada sakit Pemalas yang besar gunung Fuji duk atas kepala saya aje..Bila nak rajin nih. Orang lain bleh upload barang berpuluh2 sehari. Saya nak bleh upload satu pun lembab. Apa la nak jadi.