 Around fifth or sixth week of your pregnancy you will notice that your breasts had become fuller and your nipples are tenderer than before. Your nipples and the darker-colored area around them, called the areole, may have enlarged and darkened. The Montgomery`s glands are the small protrusions circling the areole, become more prominent. Starting about the third month of pregnancy, the complex interplay of a number of hormones-including pro-lactin, estrogen, progesterone, and human growth hormone -leads to the proliferation of milk ducts and gland-producing cells in your breasts as your body prepares for milk production.
With the progress of pregnancy, the glandular tissue necessary to produce milk replaces much of the fatty and supportive tissue that normally makes up most of the volume of your breast. Your breasts become substantially larger during preg-nancy and lactation due to these changes. You may be concerned about the shape of your breast after weaning. Rest assured that once your baby is weaned from the breast your milk glands are once again replaced by fatty and supportive tissue, prompting your breasts to return to your pre pregnancy size and shape.
You become fully capable of producing breast milk by the end of the second trimester. Even if you deliver prematurely you will be able to produce breast milk. Colostrum, the first milk produced, is thick, some-what sticky, and yellow or orange in color. Colostrum is indicated by yellow or orange stains on the inside of your maternity bra, however, some mothers do not notice any colostrum until after the birth of their babies.
After the birth of your baby the areole of your breasts, espe-cially the nipples, will become exquisitely sensitive to touch. When your baby`s mouth touches the nipple, nerve cells will send a signal to your brain, causing the release of the hormone oxy-tocin. Oxytocin causes tiny muscle cells within the breasts to contract, squeezing milk from the milk-producing cells down the milk ducts toward small sacs or sinuses near the nipples. Your baby draws milk from the sinuses through the nipple and into his mouth. The more your baby suckles at the breast, the more oxytocin is produced, thereby causing more milk to be moved through the ducts, which is termed as milk ejection reflex in scientific parlance. This is a complex system by which your body ensures that whenever your infant is hungry, your body will provide her with the nourishment he needs.
The volume of milk your breast can hold at a particular time depends on the size of your breasts. You may need to nurse more frequently if your breasts are smaller -breast size does not determine how much milk you produce overall. As long as your baby is latched on and suckling correctly, the amount of milk you produce is determined by how much your baby nurses. The more milk your baby drinks, the more milk your body will produce. The less she breast feeds, the less milk produced.
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