Breast Changes During Pregnancy

Contents:

• Breast Changes in Pregnancy
• What Happens to a Woman’s Breast During Pregnancy?
• What Should a Woman do to Take Care of her Breast During Pregnancy?
• What Changes do Occur in Your Breast During Pregnancy?

Breast Changes in Pregnancy

Most often, it is exactly breast that tells a girl she is in a delicate condition. The thing is that hormonal changes that occur inside the organism cause certain changes in a woman’s breast as well. It swells and becomes more sensitive.

What Happens to a Woman’s Breast During Pregnancy?

During all the course of pregnancy, a woman’s breast is gradually getting ready for breastfeeding.

The following changes occur:

• The size of your breast is bigger for up to 2 sizes. Most often, this happens during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and right before labour.
• Your breast becomes more sensitive. For example, it may be too sensitive to pain. Future mothers may also feel either numbness or prickling in breast.
• Your nipples and areolas also become bigger. Small tubercles appear around your areolas. These tubercles are called Montgomery tubercles.
• Some time later, you may notice that there is colostrum. Colostrum is a thick discharge of yellow color. Most often, it starts to occur in the 4th month of pregnancy.
• The areolas and the skin around them are gradually getting darker. You may even notice that there is a venous “spiderweb”. The thing is that blood circulation in your mammary glands goes faster than usually. Consequently, blood vessels get darker.

What Should a Woman do to Take Care of her Breast During Pregnancy?

Once you find out that you’re in a delicate condition, the first thing you need to do is to find a comfortable for your breast bra. It is important to find a model that will support your breast but, at the same time, won’t press on it too much. You’d better choose the models that have rather wide straps and adjustable fasteners. These shouldn’t be underwire bras.

The most important thing to remember is that you should only wear only high quality underwear that is specially designed for pregnant women. If you can’t choose the underwear by yourself, it’s better to consult the doctor who is keeping the course of your pregnancy under control.

In order for the colostrum not to get on your bra, you need to use special inserts. They will help you keep your clothes clean. During breastfeeding, a woman is also recommended to use these inserts.

Conditioning your breast to cold is also useful. You should take hot and cold showers regularly. Besides, you may softly rubdown your breast with a sponge. You carefully rubdown around your areoles and towards the base of your breast. Do not touch the nipples.

In order to make the skin of your nipples stronger and prevent the occurrence of painful crevices on it during the period of breastfeeding, it is also recommended to take hot and cold showers. You shouldn’t listen to your friends too much that recommend you different methods. Actually, these methods will only irritate the skin. For instance, if you massage the nipples with a terry towel etc. It’s important to remember that any stimulation of your nipples may cause the muscle contractions of your uterus.

Future mothers during pregnancy face a common problem. Many of them say that there have appeared stretching marks on their breasts. This happens due to the fact that the size of your breast gets bigger. In order to prevent the occurrence of the stretching marks, it’s recommended to massage your breast carefully with an almond oil. You need to do it right after you’ve had a bath or have taken a shower. You may also use special creams that help to get rid of stretching marks. However, before you start using any of them, you need to consult your doctor.

What Changes do Occur in Your Breast During Pregnancy?

Starting from the very first days of pregnancy, there occur certain changes in the organism of a pregnant woman. Your organism is gradually getting ready for the labour and breastfeeding that are ahead. Consequently, certain changes will occur in your mammary glands.

The structure of mammary glands is the following: there are from 15 to 20 alveoli inside of which there are lobules and milk ducts. Since there occur certain hormonal changes, the ducts and the lobules get bigger, more and more cells that are responsible for the production of milk grow.

In some cases, the weight of each mammary gland may get up to 600-700 g due to these changes. Therefore, the size of your breast gets bigger while you’re pregnant.

Breast Size in the First Weeks of Pregnancy

Most often, the size of your breast gets bigger during the first 10-12 weeks of pregnancy and the last weeks before labour. During the course of pregnancy, your breast may become several sizes bigger.

Apart from becoming bigger, your breast also turns out to be more sensitive. The changes that occur inside your breast result in it being more sensitive. Remember that you may feel discomfort even if you carefully touch your breast. In some cases, you may even feel a strong pain.

Many women experience these painful sensations during pregnancy. It’s fine. In case the painful sensations do not disappear after the 12th week, they will become less intensive. At the same time, you need to take into account the fact that this may not happen. Some pregnant women experience a strong feeling of discomfort during all the course of pregnancy.

Such changes as your breast becoming too much sensitive, swelling of your breast and it being painful to touch are one of the first signs proving that you’re pregnant. However, these are not the only changes that occur in your breast during breastfeeding.

During pregnancy, there may also appear a venous “spiderweb”. It occurs because the blood circulation is increased. The hormonal changes that occur in your  organism lead not only to the size of your breast being bigger, but also to the areolas being darker. As for the nipples, they swell and become puffy.

Besides, the process of colostrum production also occurs exactly during pregnancy. Colostrum is a forerunner of milk. The peculiarities of colostrum include not only its particular yellow color, but also a particular aroma emitted from your breast. You shouldn’t worry if, during pregnancy, you notice yellow liquid dripping out of your breast. It happens with all pregnant women and is in no way a sign of future problems you’ll face when breastfeeding. In some cases, the amount of colostrum dripping out of your breast may be quite big. That’s why you’re recommended to use special inserts that you put inside your bra.

The changes mentioned above are considered to be standard. These are common changes that occur during pregnancy. You shouldn’t worry if you notice any of them. If you notice any other changes apart from those mentioned, you should know that they might occur due to failures in hormonal background. In such like cases, there is a necessity to consult your doctor.