Infant’s thermal balance and the evolution of the human breast – a proof-of-concept study

Abstract

The distinct size and shape of breasts in women is a uniquely human trait. This trait has no conclusive explanation as it is not a requirement for milk production. Additionally, breasts are enlarged already at puberty, this is usually long before the first pregnancy. We hypothesized that the perennially enlarged human breasts were potentially developed to support infant’s thermal balance by providing increased warming surface in skin-to-skin contact. To test the hypothesis, we measured breast surface temperature to explore their heating capacity and resilience to temperature changes in an environmental conditions laboratory. Volunteers, divided in groups of nursing women, non-nursing women and men, were exposed to three temperatures: 32°C, 27°C and 18°C. The exposure time in each temperature was 20 min. The changes in breast surface temperature were recorded by thermal imaging camera. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Breastfeeding women had overall higher mammary surface temperature compared to other groups. Furthermore, nursing women had distinct resilience against cooling environment: they lost the average of 2.5°C of their mammary surface temperature, whereas other study groups lost 4.3 and 4.7°C of surface temperature respectively. This proof-of -concept study clearly indicated the potential of the nursing women’s breasts to support infant’s thermal balance.