The process of the milk beginning to flow down while breastfeeding. This can be stimulated by a baby's suckling or the petals on the Isis Breast Pump. Let-down can cause the milk to spray or leak from breast, and is also called the milk ejection reflex.
Also known as the milk ejection response, it occurs when hormones cause muscles within the breast to squeeze and the ducts to widen, pushing the milk from all parts of the breast toward the nipple. Some mothers feel a tingling sensation; others feel nothing. Let-down is partly a conditioned response and can be encouraged while nursing or breast pumping by engaging in routines (i.e. sitting in the same place, drinking from a certain cup), looking at a picture of the baby, thinking of the milk flowing, or taking the mind off of everything about it.