If life were a bowl of cherries...

Ok…. I am writing this to the soundtrack of the Rocky Horror Picture show… so if it is a little strange then blame the backing music. :P Fantastic songs though. : ]

Recent Achievements

• Living in my new flat/bedsit for a week a 2 days. (Current song: I’m going home – Funny…)
• Living on my own for 4 days
• Working a full time job for 6 working days.
• Not breaking anything … at all
• Washing my hair without a shower regularly and successful – though not without complaining.
• Cooking tasty (to me) meals without setting fire to my kitchen.
• Not flooding the kitchen when I used the washing machine.
• Activating up a phone line despite BT’s beast efforts to stop me
• Breaking into my bathroom at 2am!

Recent Lessons

• Check to see if you have rice before you start cooking risotto! (although cuscus seems to work OK)
• It helps to remove the filters / analysers before trying to do a basic confocal image of some fluorescing cells.
• Never let a sales person (“some insects called the human race”) start their spiel concerning their current offers… particularly if you KNOW you aren’t interested.
• Irons come with a plastic cover on the hot bit… it helps to remove this before you turn it on. Although if you notice within about 10 seconds the damage can be rectified with patient peeling and then some acetone (nailpolish remover)

Current Aims

• Learn how to operate the storage heaters properly.
• Sort the kitchen out :P

Failures

• Unable to operate the lock on my bathroom - resulting in having to unscrew the lock fixture at 2am!
  

xXx

I have new reeds. Howarths also offer a very nice Student discount on their reeds so I got 5 reeds and C. P. E. Bach's Sonta in G minor for something silly like £60. :D This equals a slightly excitable (and excited) Ruth. ~ apparently this is a good thing and should be repeated. I also very much like the fact that I can walk in, borrow an oboe and TRY all the reeds before I buy them. This way I have a very good set to take away that includes:

• Some playable now (i.e. 40mins to blow in)
• Some playable later (i.e. a few days/ weeks)
• Some beautifully rich
• Some more piercing but easier to play for rehearsals or long scales/fingerwork practises

It is strange though... I've started reading around science again. Or just having conversations with people. Like the other night we were at the pub and ended up discussing quantum physics vs evolution vs global change vs environment with two complete randomer's who joined our table. I sort of wish I had the confidence to do that - just join a table. But hey, there is time I s'pose. Great conversation though.

Or the other day trying to work out if there was any logic in allowing extra-terrestrial races (in sci-fi plots) to have both evolved, peaked and then died into nothing long before human technology allows us to discover the ruins. The argument was that we have to assume that the big bang is a limiting factor for all species. We also have to assume that is takes a certain length of time to form a planet and then form a planet capable of supporting life (even if their equivilent of a respiratory pigment isn't oxygen). The species on this planet then have to evolve conciousness, then industry, then technology. Ok, planets form at different times and species evolve in different ways and at different rates depending on the selection pressure and the nature of the species (gestation period being a rather obvious limiting factor). But, is there really enough lee-way to invent entire species of *higher* beings that have lived and died whilst our planet was still in its infancy?

I don't think I can actually answer this as I don't know enough about the time frame of the history of the Universe, but I would guess not. Particularly as most of these races seem to be far more technologically advanced and therefore will have developed ways to make themselves resiliant to extinction (so to speak). Mind you, it is true that they tend to have bewiped out by some catastrophy or other and then our daring human pilots and scientists can go in and use all this amazing alien technology that can be so easily adapted for human (no alien) use! ... but that is another debate.

Stuart is now laughing at me. Apparently my disdain for his reed-soaking abilities is comical! (NEW REEDS)

Anyway... it seems the dichotomy is still there. Music? Science? Music and science? Teaching? Performing? Writing? Lifeguarding? Proffesional snake charmer? ... and I still want to own that cafe!

Poly-chotomy seems a more appropriate term.

But I fear I am being anti-social and shall vanish (like magic, or some strange alien technology :P) - forgive me my childishness, new music does this to me!

xXx

All this decisiveness must be bad for my health... I shall stop soon.

Having a lot of trouble getting things done at the moment. This is partly because I have probably half the amount of time I need to do to all the jobs I have. But also because the list looks so daunting that I can not face it.  To remedy this second issue I have decided that I will set myself a maximum of 3 tasks to complete each day. These three tasks must be completed... all others are just a bonus.

Today I shall: help angela, sort my visa and do oboe.

xXx 

I used to think that there would come a "right time"; that there would be a time and a place and a set of circumstances that would be safe. I used to think that sometime I would find the space to go through all my old demons and ghosts from unfading memories in the same way that every summer I have time to go through all the junk that accumlates in my bedroom. I used to go through my days and weeks putting everything I felt and saw and heard on hold (so to speak) and storing it all up until this magical time came when I would be allowed a few months free of all responsability and commitment. Then, and only then, would I sort through the mess that I had kept locked away for all those years. Then, and only then, would I free myself to move on.

Until that point, the effects of everything that happened would simply be postponed.

Then I stopped believing that that "right time" would ever happen. But I still kept storing it all. That caused a little bit of mess.

That might be a slight understatement.

Recently I have been developing a new theory. I talked it over with a close friend of mine and she seems to be coming to the same conclusion. Whether this proves my progress and personal development or whether this simply confirms my insanity is yet to be decided :P I'm sure it makes little difference either way.

In a sense I was partially right in both my previous theories. There will never be a "right time". There will never be a time in anyone's life when all those things that make the days drag, those thing that make the nightmares linger... there will never be a time when those disappear. There is always something new, always something else to be getting on with. 

And that in itself is a gift (if you learn to see it the right way). I am rather too curious about what tomorrow will bring, to give up totally on today.

But I have come to the conclusion that whilst there is never a right time, a right place or the right circumstances to make you step back, ackowledge what you are and then get on with it, there may be the right people - or person.

And that suddenly, when you least expect it... and certainally when you are least ready or prepared for change... these people swan into your life and create havoc. And suddenly there is no time to question whether this is the right time or the wrong time. Suddenly you don't stop to decide whether it is safe to air old wounds and luggage that is holding you back. Suddenly, none of that matters.

Something gives you the strenght to throw caution far beyond anywhere the winds have gone before.

Something gives you the courage to take the risk.

Something gives you the confidence to dare to stand and not to run or hide or pretend...

And generally that something doesn't give you a choice.

So no, there isn't a time when it all becomes easy and you can methodically sort through a lifetime of crap. And there isn't a time when all the people who expect and demand things of you inexplicably decide to look the other way.

But there will come a time when you meet people who turn your life upside down and inside out.

And you'll be amazed at what comes out in the wash       -       half the time without you even realising it.

xXx 

...And don't think I didn't hear your groan.

I have finished my 7 days of exams. I have done well in biology and chemistry (I had already written the biology synoptic essay of my own accord for revision - plant reproduction!! :D :D) and I am TERRIFIED about music - but such is the way. Hopefully my more than adequate marks from last year will tide me over. (*crosses fingers*)

I have also been out to dinner, a party and a ball.... Met some really rather interesting and entertaining new people, worked out how to do our song for Cabaret (Wed and Thur this week)... and written the A section of a gig. You shouldn't let me spend hours tuning on a recorder :P gone through every dance form I know from pavanne to sarabande to gig to reel.... :D oh and lots of minuets because they are pretty.

Oh and another song on the train... well beginnings of

Different trains honey, different line
Different trains/ways(?) honey, different mind
You'll go your way
And I'll go mine
You've done you worst
Soon I'll be feeling just fine / now I'm feeling just fine (?)

xXx 

I bid you greetings

All you angry men
And outraged women
Who sit and stare - for hours on end -
At the news reels on your TV screen
Who scroll through pages of

INTERNET HEADLINES

Tut and shake your head
Or shake your fist
And swear about injustice

I bid you greetings

You! Who's blood boils
And who's muscle trembles
In contempt
At the Dictators, the TNCs, the Banks, the Presidents, the Priests and the Teachers

As you sit and stare
And wait for the next headline
As you sit and stare
Eagar for the next to fuel your mindless fury
As you sit and stare

As you sit

As you sit

AND DO NOTHING

You sit and stare

At the woman beaten blue by a teenage daughter
At the vicar up in court, or the poedophile for rape
At the athlete torn apart by a long forgotten mine
At the young girl in the brothel waiting for her client
At the father searching in the ruins of a blowout
For a wife, for a parent, for a child, for a cousin, for an uncle, for a grandson, for a friend... for anybody?

You sit and stare

At a natural disaster wreaking havoc on a city
And swear hatred at the leaders,
At their lack of human pity

You sit and stare

And do nothing.

In your youth
In your passion
In your strength
In your self

You who have the power to shake the mountains
Who have the might to tople the steeples
And tear down the palaces

You have the feet that could teach the world to dance
You have the hands that could heal the scars that still deform
You have the tongues that could bring wisdom
You have the minds that could imagine something better

Most of all you have the hearts
The anger
The passion
The blood and the guts


Most of all you have the heart
That could
Give you

Strength

To change things

But you don't
You sit and stare.
In your selfish, smugness and self-centred pious righteousness
You watch the world go to hell in a handcart
And shake your head
And shake your fist

Then turn the TV off

And go to bed.

At least those without the wit, or the compassion...
Without the heart or the soul to be angry...
At least they can sleep

Without their own hypocrisy tainting their dreams

I bid you greetings
And I bid you goodnight

You sicken me.

xXx 

There ae many ways to go away.

Some peope lose themselves in the dark passages of their minds. They re-visit old hours and past minutes, they works slowly though archives of emotion and experience, observing all and feeling none. And sometimes they get so lost the visions cease to make sense and they can wonder, lost, for hours on end in a labyrinth of their own designing.

For some it is different. They become children. Eagar, expectant, excitable. Each emotion they feel is displayed, so openly, and then cast aside as quickly as it was formed. Tactile and mobile. They do not sit, but turn and look and watch and touch and feel and question. There may be no purpose in any of this. But the distraction keeps them occupied; takes them back to a time when it was easier to let the clouds slide on by. For the moment, they are safe.

Some people dress up. New suit, better make up - you can see it all the time. The accesories are superfluous. What they actually do is build another person. This guise is not necessarily better or worse, or much different to their real self (if they are practised), it is simply an easier life to live. This new self processes things better, and anything that does not fit the processing can be forgotten or ignored.

Some people count things, or double two, or engross themselves in a logic or maths puzzel. Some people create an entire universe inside their head. Or bury their conciousness in the imaginations of other authors. 

Some people take drugs. Some people take up exctreme sports. Some people run. Some combine the two in parkour. Some people drink. Some people hurt themselves. Some people lose themselves in sex. Some people immerse themselves utterly in their own anger.

There are many ways to go away.

The question is not why. The question is not how. The quesiton is not where, or even for how long. 

The quesiton is how the hell do we bring them home?

xXx

Good

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7407589.stm

That is all I can say at the moment... relief...

I am not so bothered about banning true 50/50 hybrids (as that would get messy in all sorts of tangible and ethical/philosophical ways), now we just have: saviour siblings, abortion and the role of fathers in IVF.

The first I am really not sure of... Killing life to save life is one thing and hard to justify, but I think it is equally hard to justify creating a life just to save another. But then again, there are so many unwanted children in the world that the fact they might only be wanted for the sake of another is hardly credible as an argument. I can understand why people would want these saviour siblings. But part of me also says that people should be born unique and *untampered with*... And that people should have the chance to find their own purpose, not have one handed to them on a plate. (There was an interesting book along a similar yet very different line: "The Girls" that told the story of two siamese twins and their dependence on each other.) I think ultimately in this case there should be no law against it. There is also the question of to what extent we will screen embryo's and how selective we become... Apparently "My sister's Keeper" raises this issue, but I have not read it.

Abortion date. At 8 weeks an embryo becomes a foetus. At 10 the vital organs (including brain) are fully formed and by 12 weeks the neuronal development is such that the foetus has reflexes and muscle control. By week 20 we have facial expression, fully functional cardiac and urinal cycles, semi-functional digestive tract (obviously this doesn't actually finish developing until the child has been weaned), motor control (thumb sucking and other cure things apparently) and the development of the senses - taste, smell etc. At the critical 24 weeks the foetus has a 44% chance of surviving outside the uterus, at 23 weeks this is reduced to 16%. By now the eyes are developed (still no pigment) and the foetus is responing to sounds of the outside world.

The question really is... what is the significance in this reduction. Yes, 200 000  abortions a year is too much. And yes, I do not find the idea in any way appealing. Apparently, 24 weeks was chosen when this was the age that the foetus could survive outside the uterus with support. Recent medical develoments have made in more likely for a foetus to survive a younger age and now the limit is supposedly 21 weeks. Question: Is it foetal viability if they require life support? Or the date of the earlier premature child that survived? Or the date when any foetus could theoretically survive unsupported outside the womb. (btw: I believe the data here, is *survive into adulthood without consequential complications*... but I wouldn't swear to it)

The choice of whether or not to abort is one of the hardest ones I can imagine any couple/woman having to make. However, if the choice is possible, if we are still going to let people decide in advance that their own/their child's quality of life will be too low to be worth the living of it... If we let people have that choice then part of me says that the woman needs as much time as we can give her to make her decision as evenly as possible with minimal trauma and mental upset. There is also the issue of the speed of the legal process. Then there is the issue of abortion for medical reasons - in particular the mothers. As I see it, I don't think that the reduction is significant in real way except to keep the law in line with it's original intention.

I think the question really is the significance of foetal viability?

Father's Role in IVF. I can not find out quite what is being debated here as people ae getting too hyped up over abortion (as ever) and their new pet favourite or "Frankenstien's Monster" (a.k.a. hybrids). I think the move is to say that father's are unnecessary and giving single women and lesbian couples equal opportunities for IVF treatments. I am not sure where I stand on this... instinct tells me I am against it. However, I know as well as the next person how many people fail to find their family in blood relatives and instead look for mothers, fathers, brothers, aunts, cousins... in the people around them. A father figure is essential, yes. Or several...

As I don't know what is actually being discussed... So I shall say that I think I support the role in sperm doner father's finding the identity of their child... But I think if this is the case then maybe they should be expected to play a part in the support of the child.

I shall now witter on various related topics. 

Ok... logically. I support the birth of children to single sex couples because I can not think of a reasonable argument against it. They offer more support and stability that single parent families and in my experience it is the complimenting of personalities and *roles* that makes a sucessful relaitonship. Whilst this may be more common (in my observation alone) in heterosexual couples I would never say it was impossible with single sex couples... and I am aware how the relative sample sizes will have colours my opinion. I would suggest that finding father figures in family friends etc, would be useful... but the same is true of many many families.

I am not sure if I could advocate the birth of a child to a single woman through IVF simply from a logistical perspective. Accidents happen so to speak, and people end up in single parent families with only one source of income and support. However, I don't know how much I could support the deliberate creation of a life with only one half of a family and equally only half the deserved support...

It is a hard one, and most of my views stem from my rather (odd maybe all things considered) strong opinions on family. And also balance within family, between the sexes, between personality... (losely) I think I believe, procreation was intended for man and woman who - ideally - between them can offer protection, education, support and fun through the combination of their own specific talents and traits. We all know that the actual occurance of this is rare - but the question is, to what extent are we willing to allow the deliberate breaking away from this ideal.

So I think I will stand - for the moment at least - with homosexual couples: yes... single parents... no.

It is interesting to note that some of the animal research into homosexuality has been a propensity for homosexual males to develop in a population where there are too many dominant males. These males act as ballast (so to speak), filling the role of an uncle, and supporting the community without actually reproducing. The suggestion is that in these circumstances, homosexuality is a means of controlling population growth.

Not sure what I believe about that, or how is affects the argument... but it is an interesting point.

xXx

PS: so much for organ practise.

I ache... I suspect most of this is due to going for a very cold run last night and spending 45 minutes in the middle of it sitting on a metal bench at gone 9pm.... Worth it? Yes... painful today.... Just a little, but irritating none-the-less.

My right bicep also aches a lot!!!! when I raise it past shoulder height... there are several advantages to injecting vaccines into muscle tissue: it is distributed better being the main one and reduce pain at the time (possible) being a second... it does mean that moving that muscle becomes an issue.

I didn't do anything this afternoon... instead I lay on my bed with my head buried in a pillow wondering why the searing pain in my head would not go away and why it became significantly worse each time I actually rested my head on the pillow instead of supporting it myself.

I WILL go and do organ at 7:30.

I sang a top G for 8 bars of music solid :D and got a round of applause.. Even if Jack made me laugh because he was staring at me all the way through and I couldn't work out his expression.

I left my proximity card at home. This made my day excessively awkward, but I am not going to rant about them now... IM NOT.... not... not.... *holds breath*

I should probably pack tonight as the first set of *stuff* is going home on Wednesday and I have minimal time tomorrow. However, considering my packing history, the fact I know I can do it just as well in a panic at the last minutes (provided I am not distracted! - before a certain boyfriend starts making witty comments) means that the chances of me doing nothing tonight are slim. I HATE packing... unpacking is good fun though. :D Packing for me is either done in a rush, or I take time and everything has to be as efficient and effective as possible. Seeing as I always fail in these final objectives, I invariably leave packing as late as possible. 

It is 3 days until I see Stuart again... I have a sneaky suspicion that they are going to pass unbearably slowly. In particular, I would very much like to be able to delete Thursday morning. Mind you, as ever, I am horrifically busy, so it shouldn't be too bad. (*crosses fingers, touches wood and prays to every God she can think of?*) Mneh. I'll stop being irritatingly sickly now, I can already see a few faces turning green.

I have the beginnings of 4 or 5 poems in my head. This is becoming irksome (I do love that word) as I can not sort them out into any sensible order or managable form. I can't seem to focus on any idea for any length of time at all. Apologise to all those who have tried to have conversations with me when I'm in this state - believe me I *KNOW* how infuriating it is!

I am also fighting the urge to revisit some old forums I *know* I shouldn't.

I have wittered enough.

xXx 

Ok. Here is the other "half" of the story... this has taken me 2 hours. I did not do this set of notes from memory (the first bit on the Menstural Cycle was). It is 3 pages long in MSWord and I don't expect anyone to read it properly. I am just rather proud of it as it is the most work I've done in biology in 18 months!

It is also a good retort to any idiot male who complains he can't understand women -  of course he can't! It is written into our bloody physiology!!!!!!!!

I'm not kidding when I say anyone would think we weren't meant to reproduce. 

Hormones are in bold, couldn't be bothered to put scientific words into italics, instead *my* comments are initalics.

Oogenisis – the female side

Ok. So here is the complicated one… *breathes deeply*… and begins.

Once again the hypothalamus has overall control over this process – being the link between the nervous and chemical systems in the body, that sort of makes sense. Once again GnRH is released and travels the short distance to the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. Again two hormones are released: LH (Lutenising Hormone (=ISCH)) and FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone).

Right now things begin to alter slightly. The female process of oogenisis (generation of the egg cell) is not continuous but cyclical and begins before birth. As the ovaries develop in the female embryo, meiosis one begins in the germinal epithelial layer and is halted in prophase one. The ovaries also produce follicle cells which surround the oogonia to form primary follicles.

Basically the soon-to-be-egg cells begin to divide and at frozen part way through the process with the DNA condensed into chromosomes and grouped into homologous (same-sized) pairs. The cells are then surrounded by a layer of other, smaller cells.

Meiosis one is halted at birth and the process cannot resume until puberty occurs and the menstrual cycle begins. (JOY!) This cycle varies between females, but for ease of communication the cycle is “averaged” out over 28 days.

OK, back to Biology. FSH is released from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland and travels in the blood to the ovaries where it stimulates the continuation of meiosis one. The layers of surrounding cells builds up and a theca layer developes (from the tissue of the ovary) to create a primary oocyte within a primary follicle. The theca layer secretes oestrogen which has a number of functions including:

•    Promotes secondary sexual characteristics in females
•    Inhibits FSH production to prevent the development of a second oogonia.
•    Builds up and prepares the endometrial layer (blood layer) in the uterus

The first meiotic split is completed and one of the haploid cells degenerates into a polar body that has no known purpose. The follicle continues to mature into a Graafian Follicle and oestrogen levels continue to rise. At day 14 of the cycle the oestrogen levels peak and (once over a threshold level) stimulate (not inhibit) the release of FSH and LH.

The production of a Graafian Follicle occurs moving in towards the centre of the ovary; LH stimulates the eruption of the primary oocyte out from the ovary into the oviduct (Fallopian Tube). This can apparently cause a little bleeding as the oocyte is the largest cell in a human body and some women claim to be able to feel the release occurring.)

Here the story splits into two:

The remainder of the Graafian Follicle develops into a Corpus Luteum (or Yellow Body) that produces progesterone (and oestrogen). Progesterone helps to maintain the endometrial layer and also inhibits FSH and LH so no new oogonia are developed.

The primary oocyte travels along the oviduct to the uterus and can survive only a couple of days, without fertilisation, before it degenerates. And then the story splits again….

If fertilisation does not occur, then the primary oocyte dies and shortly afterwards the corpus luteum degenerates. Progesterone and Oestrogen levels fall again and FSH and LH are no longer inhibited. FSH levels rise and stimulate the development of another oogonia and primary follicle to mature to a Graafian Follicle. The endometrial layer decomposes and menstruation occurs.

On The Other Hand…

Long lines of mucus in the uterus provide lines for sperm to swim easily along and guide their travel to the oviducts. The contraction of the uterus (presumably through oxytocin release) also aids this movement. If a sperm meets the primary oocyte, the acrosome layer breaks through the wall of the primary oocyte and stimulates the second division – meiosis two – to create a secondary oocyte. The secondary polar body produced here is again redundant material. The wall of the ovum becomes impermeable to other sperm to prevent double fertilization. The genetic material from the single sperm cell is incorporated into the DNA of the secondary oocyte to form an ovum.

Interesting… sperm are 50um long whilst a secondary oocyte is 140um in diameter! (that is visible to some people!)…. Just visualise it!

This ovum travels down the oviduct to the uterus and (hopefully) imbeds in the endometrial layer. The cell releases hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin) that prevents the degeneration of the corpus luteum for roughly 12 weeks until the placenta is fully developed. After 12 weeks the placenta takes over the role of producing oestrogen and progesterone that maintain the endometrial layer and prevent the development of another oocyte by inhibiting FSH and LH. Progesterone also relaxes the muscles in the uterus wall to prevent damage to the foetus and potential miscarriage.

Back to placenta: the embryo developing a Chorion layer that protrudes into the uterus wall and forms finger-like protrusions called Choronic villi that have microvilli on the external side of the epithelial cell (outside) layer. Inside these villi a network of blood vessels bring the foetal blood close to the mother’s blood supply in the endometrial layer, so that diffusion can occur – note the two blood supplies never mix.

The foetal heart pumps (faster than the mother) deoxygenated blood out along the umbilical arteries. Gas exchange and exchange of nutrients / hormones / antibodies / urea occurs and fresh blood is transported back to the developing foetus along umbilical veins. HPL (Human Placental Lactogen) is involved in the development of breasts during pregnancy and adjusts the mother’s glucose and fat respiration to the advantage of the foetus. Most bacteria cannot cross the placental barrier but viruses such as Rubella and HIV can.

The foetus develops surrounded by a protective amniotic sac containing amniotic fluid. After roughly 38 weeks the level of progesterone decreases rapidly whilst the level of oestrogen increases. This makes the uterus more susceptible to oxytocin which is a neurotransmitter / hormone produced by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland. This causes the uterus to contract and the cervix begins to dilate (over a time period of up to 12 hours). A mucus plug that has blocked the cervix during pregnancy detaches and passes out through the vagina and the amniotic sac bursts. Hopefully the foetus has had the sense (and kindness) to rotate around so they can leave the uterus headfirst! (The opposite is a breach-birth and is even more painful!) A rare example of positive feedback: the high levels of oxytocin in the blood during labour, stimulates the release of more oxytocin. The rate of contractions increases steadily and when the cervix has dilated to 10cm diameter then head “engages” and the baby begins to emerge.

(I am slightly confused here: the baby’s skull is not yet fused together… so how does pushing it repeatedly very hard against the cervix and the pelvis not cause damage??)

Once the baby is in air they (We NEED a better gender-neutral pronoun!) begins to breathe and the umbilical cord is cut and tied off. Final contractions of the uterus cause the placental structures to detach from the endometrial layer and pass out of the vagina. Over the following weeks the (deciduous) endometrial layer decomposes and is also lost as progesterone and oestrogen levels fall again.

The final part of the female reproductive cycle is lactation. During pregnancy the presence of HPL (Human Placental Lactogen) allows oestrogen to stimulate the development of the duct systems in the breasts and progesterone to stimulate the development of milk glands. The high levels of progesterone and oestrogen also inhibit the production of prolactin.

After birth, as progesterone and oestrogen levels fall PRF (Prolactin Releasing Factor) is released from the hypothalamus and stimulates the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland to produce prolactin that is responsible for the production of milk. The milk contains lactose (glucose + galactose) along with fat, minerals, vitamins that are easy to digest. There is also a selection of the mother’s antibodies and viruses such as HIV (if she is positive). The suckling action of the baby stimulates nerves in the nipples that send messages to the hypothalamus to release PRF and to the posterior pituitary gland to produce oxytocin. Oxytocin causes the involuntary muscles around the milk glands to contract to force milk through the ducts and out through the nipple. PRF also causes the release of prolactin so the production of milk is maintained.

This process obviously only occurs when the baby is suckling.