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Home › Articles › Breast is Best › Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

How Breastfeeding Reduces the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

By Gwen Morrison

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Tongue thrusting is described as abnormal swallowing and can be a significant cause of malocclusions. During breastfeeding, the infant uses a wave like peristaltic motion of the tongue to express milk from the breast. "The mother's let-down response also helps propel or push the milk out of the breast," says Dr. Palmer. "This is in contrast to the forces during bottle-feeding in which the infant may have to create a suction to combat the vacuum effect created in the bottle."

It is important to note that the peristaltic motion of the tongue during breastfeeding helps mold the roof of the mouth into a normal height, "U-shaped" palate, allowing for the proper positioning of the teeth around the arch.

Sweet Sleep, Safe Sleep-How Breastfeeding Reduces the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Dr. Palmer points out that although the delivery system of breastfeeding is much healthier for an infant, it is often not appreciated. "With an artificial teat, the infant does not caress the bottom side of the teat, but rather has to squeeze it to express its contents," he says. "The milk will either gush or squirt in a thin, hard stream out the end, causing the infant to posture its tongue at the back of the throat to prevent too much liquid from going down its throat. This is what sets up a tongue habit that is described as a tongue thrust.

"Based on evaluating approximately 600 skulls, I have found that prehistoric skulls rarely had high palates, narrow dental arches or overjets," says Dr. Palmer. "That culture had no option but to breastfeed their young. I even go as far as to hypothesize thatprehistoric people may not have had obstructive sleep apnea because of their better occlusion due to breastfeeding [except for those who were obese]."


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