If you are pregnant
now, you’ve probably noticed a metamorphosis in your
Bra cups. The physical changes (tender, swollen
breasts) may be one of the earliest clues that you
Have conceived. Many experts believe that the color
change in the areola may also be helpful when it
Comes to breastfeeding.
What’s going on
Perhaps what’s even more remarkable than visible
changes is the extensive changes that are taking
Place inside your breasts. The developing
placenta stimulates the release of estrogen and
progesterone, which will in turn stimulate the
complex biological system that helps to make lactation
Possible.
Before you get pregnant, a combination of supportive
tissue, milk glands, and fat make up the larger
Portions of your breasts. The fact is, your newly
swollen breasts have been preparing for your
Pregnancy since you were in your mother’s womb!
When you were born, your main milk ducts had already
Formed. Your mammary glands stayed quiet until
you reached puberty, when a flood of the female
hormone estrogen caused them to grow and also to
Swell. During pregnancy, those glands will kick
Into high gear.
What’s going on
Perhaps what’s even more remarkable than visible
changes is the extensive changes that are taking
Place inside your breasts. The developing
placenta stimulates the release of estrogen and
progesterone, which will in turn stimulate the
complex biological system that helps to make lactation
Possible.
Before you get pregnant, a combination of supportive
tissue, milk glands, and fat make up the larger
Portions of your breasts. The fact is, your newly
swollen breasts have been preparing for your
Pregnancy since you were in your mother’s womb!
When you were born, your main milk ducts had already
Formed. Your mammary glands stayed quiet until
you reached puberty, when a flood of the female
hormone estrogen caused them to grow and also to
Swell. During pregnancy, those glands will kick
Into high gear.
Before your baby arrives, glandular tissue has replaced a majority of the fat cells and accounts for your bigger than before breasts. Each breast may actually get as much as 1 1/2 pounds heavier than before!
Nestled among the fatty cells and glandular tissue is an intricate network of channels or canals known as the milk ducts. The pregnancy hormones will
Cause these ducts to increase in both number and size, with the ducts branching off into smaller canals near the chest wall known as ductile.
At the end of each duct is a cluster of smaller sacs known as alveoli. The cluster of alveoli is known as a globule, while a cluster of globule is
Known as a lobe. Each breast will contain around 15 – 20 lobes, with one milk duct for every lobe.
The milk is produced inside the alveoli, which are surrounded by tiny muscles that squeeze the glands and help to push the milk out into the ductile. Those ductile will lead to a bigger duct that widens into a milk pool directly below the areola.
The milk pools will act as reservoirs that hold the milk until your baby sucks it through the tiny openings in your nipples.
Mother Nature is so smart that your milk duct system will become fully developed around the time of your second trimester, so you can properly breastfeed your baby even if he or she arrives
Earlier than you are anticipating.
You must be logged in to post a comment.