To remove the nipple from the infant's mouth the mother merely assumed an upright position. In other words, the stimulation was severely restricted, being limited to the presence of the nipple within the infant's mouth. No caressing, no fondling by the mother, no eye to eye contact, no opportunity for the infant to touch the mother's face, to place his fingers in his mouth apparently existed during the experimental period. The question left unanswered is how many of these infant boys would have responded with penile erections under their normal nursing conditions. Some older infants in the Halverson experiment thumped the nipple vigorously with the tongue and rolled it about in the mouth in what Halverson regarded as purely playful activity, but these things occurred only with bottle feeding; none of the breast fed babies exhibited this reaction.
Halverson concluded that so-called
pleasure sucking activities have little or no connection with penile
erection. Penile erection did occur during the observation period but
never during sucking at the breast. Instead, erection occurred when infants
encountered a difficult or irritating situation. Halverson was
inclined to interpret the erections as related to abdominal pressure,
for when thwarting was introduced (such as removing the nipple or giving
the infant a difficult nipple) the resulting movements were conspicuously
characterized by severe contractions of the abdominal walls.
While other motor patterns varied during the onset of penile erection,
marked abdominal pressure was always present. The fact that marked abdominal
pressure is probably the most effective stimulus for penile
erection, as observed in the Halverson experiment, does not rule out
other possible stimulants, such as the stimulation received in a normal
satisfying nursing experience.
Turning now to the mother's responses, the mother's physiological
responses to sucking and coitus are very similar. Uterine contractions
occur during the sucking as they do during sexual stimulation. Nipple
erection occurs during both, with an increase of 1 to 1.5 centimeters
in nipple length occurring due to sexual stimulation. (Masters and
Johnson, 1966). Milk ejection has been observed to occur in both, and
the degree of milk ejection appears to be related to the degree of
erotic response. The nipple-erection reflex may lead to more efficient
nursing, increasing the satisfaction for the sucking infant as well as
for the mother. Marked breast stimulation occurring during sucking or
through fondling and caressing induces orgasm in some women.
Mothers who choose to suckle their babies have a higher general
level of sexual interest than do non-suckling post-partum women. Two
studies in which mothers who suckled their babies were compared with
those who did not bear this out. (Sears, Maccoby, and Levin, 1957,
p.74; Masters and Johnson, 1966, p. 161-163). Mothers who had positive
attitudes toward suckling gave more milk and were more successful in
breast feeding than those with negative feelings toward suckling. Uteruses
of suckling mothers returned to normal size sooner. Many mothers
(25% in one study) felt erotic arousal during suckling-to the point of
orgasm for a few of them.
Suckling mothers not only reported erotic
stimulation from the suckling experience; they were interested in as
rapid a return to coitus with their husbands as possible. Suckling
mothers engaged in coitus sooner post-partum than did non-suckling
mothers. They were more interested in sex, and placed more importance
on the exchange of affection with others than did mothers who chose to
bottle-feed their babies. "Anyone who has ever observed the sensuous
manner in which many mothers fondle their babies will appreciate that a
mother too may have contact need..." (Masters and Johnson, 1966). Suckling
mothers were also more tolerant toward erotic behavior of their
offspring, such as masturbation and sex play with others. (Sears, et
al, 1957, p. 549).