A woman is breastfeeding her baby. The suckling of the infant at the breast activates receptors in the nipple. Sensory fibers carry signals from these receptors to the hypothalamus/posterior pituitary. This stimulates release of the hormone oxytocin from the hypothalamus/posterior pituitary of this woman's brain. The oxytocin stimulates smooth muscle fibers in the ducts of the breast to contract, squeezing milk into the infant's mouth. The baby nurses more strongly, stimulated by the release of the milk. The oxytocin release and breast stimulation continues for the entire time the infant is nursing.