It is not just grown-ups who cannot resist the smell of food.
Babies sniff out their mothers’ milk, it seems.
Research suggests that newborns are guided to their food supply by their noses.
This is because tiny glands on the breast produce a fluid with a smell that hungry babies find irresistible, scientists say.
Sniffed out: Research has found that babies are
guided to their mother's breast by their noses because tiny glands on
the areola produce a smell that they find irresistible
In a study, newborns were found to
feed more and put on weight more quickly when feeding from mothers who
had lots of the glands, which are visible to the naked eye as small
bumps around the nipple.
The
scent could be used to teach tube-fed premature babies how to breast
feed, the researchers say. This would help them do better when they are
eventually able to feed naturally, this week’s New Scientist magazine
reports.
It was already
known that the number of so-called areolar glands often increase during
pregnancy, and that they sometimes leak small amounts of liquid.
It had been thought the fluid was used to lubricate the skin, but now it seems it also whets the baby’s appetite.
French researchers counted the number of glands on the nipples of 121 mothers in the first three days after birth.
Research: Benoist Schaal said his discovery
could lead him to try and bottle the chemicals that make up the smell,
helping premature babies to feed
Then they recorded how well the babies suckled, as well as how much they weighed.
They
also noted when the women started producing breastmilk, rather than
colostrum, the yellow ‘supermilk’ which is made straight after birth.
Women with more than nine of the glands per breast started to produce milk sooner than those with fewer glands.
And their babies also gained weight more quickly.
The effect was especially noticeable in first-time mothers, whose babies also fed more frequently.
The
researchers, from the National Centre for Scientific Research in Dijon,
said that first babies may be more reliant on nature’s help to
breastfeed simply because their mothers are less experienced.
They
also showed that the smell of the liquid produced by the glands made
the three-day-old babies want to suckle more. Researcher Benoist Schaal
said his discovery could have practical implications.
For
instance, if he could bottle the chemicals key to the smell, they could
be used to help train the mouth muscles of babies who are too premature
or ill to feed naturally.
‘It
could help prepare the babies for the transition from tube-feeding to
direct sucking on the nipple of a mother or bottle,’ the researcher
added.
Estonian scientists have previously shown that newborns prefer to feed from an unwashed breast over a clean one.
Researcher
Heili Varendi said the smell of the fluid from the areolar glands may
just be one of many factors that enhance breastfeeding.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2045817/Hungry-babies-smell-mothers-milk-guided-food-noses.html#