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Breast
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==Breastfeeding== {{Main|Breastfeeding}} [[File:Breastfeeding infant.jpg|thumb|upright|A baby breastfeeding]] The primary function of the breasts, as mammary glands, is the nourishing of an infant with [[breast milk]]. Milk is produced in milk-secreting cells in the alveoli. When the breasts are stimulated by the suckling of her baby, the mother's brain secretes [[oxytocin]]. High levels of oxytocin trigger the contraction of muscle cells surrounding the alveoli, causing milk to flow along the ducts that connect the alveoli to the nipple.<ref name="NCBI Bookshelf 2008">{{cite web | title=The physiological basis of breastfeeding | website=NCBI Bookshelf | date=5 November 2008 | url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK148970/ | access-date=13 February 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119051121/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK148970/ | archive-date=19 January 2018 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }} </ref> Full-term newborns have an instinct and a need to suck on a nipple, and breastfed babies nurse for both nutrition and for comfort.{{sfn|Lawrence|2016|p=201}} Breast milk provides all necessary nutrients for the first six months of life, and then remains an important source of nutrition, alongside solid foods, until at least one or two years of age.
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