17 ways your body changes postpartum....your breasts (and a video)
Here is more from the ‘Today’s Parent’ article, ‘‘17 mind blowing ways your body changes after giving birth,’ by Bonnie Schiedel.
My next post will include more specific ways your breasts change postpartum. Also a helpful little video
Those bras you bought when you were pregnant?
They’re probably going to be too small for a while. Right after giving birth, estrogen and progesterone levels drop, and prolactin, the hormone that helps you make breastmilk, kicks in. This change usually makes your breasts even bigger than they were during pregnancy, because of increased blood flow and milk, and yes, this is the engorgement your friends warned you about. It peaks two to three days after birth, and your breasts will be pretty hard and sore. If you’re nursing, the engorgement will settle down within a few days as your baby breastfeeds. Applying warm packs before breastfeeding and cold packs afterwards, as well as taking a mild anti-inflammatory (such as ibuprofen, which is safe during breastfeeding), expressing a bit of milk in the shower or tucking a clean, slightly crushed cabbage leaf against your breast all help, says CJ Blennerhassett, a Toronto midwife. If you’re not breastfeeding, engorgement may take up to a week to resolve, and a snug bra, ibuprofen and ice packs can help relieve some of the pain and discomfort.
As for your eventual after-pregnancy boob size—who knows?
Your breasts could stay bigger, get smaller or revert to their pre-pregnancy size. And as for sagginess, it’s not the breastfeeding that’s responsible, but breast weight gain during pregnancy, as well as age and smoking that could be to blame.
And here’s some more info from an article in Today’s Parent, ‘5 ways your breasts change after pregnancy,’ by Nancy Phillips:
Breast changes during pregnancy
Maureen Fjeld, a lactation consultant in private practice and director of the Calgary Breastfeeding Centre in Alberta, explains that the hormones of early pregnancy cause changes in the breast tissue. In fact, an increase in breast size is a common symptom of pregnancy. The nipples and breasts may also feel tender, and, says Fjeld, "You might notice that the areolae and nipples are getting darker." (For many women this darkening fades after pregnancy.)
When I was six months pregnant with my son, I was surprised to notice a yellow sticky substance on my nipples when I got out of the shower. Fjeld explains that this is colostrum, the nutrient-rich milk babies drink in the first 24 to 36 hours after birth. She says that women may notice colostrum at any point during a pregnancy. "Leaking colostrum and not leaking colostrum are both normal," explains Fjeld. "This has no bearing on milk production after the baby is born."
Breast changes immediately after pregnancy
Colostrum is the perfect first food for a newborn baby, low in volume so as not to stress the baby's kidneys, yet rich in protein, calories, vitamins and minerals. It provides everything the baby needs until the mother's milk comes in. But there are other benefits as well. "Colostrum provides high doses of antibodies which protect the baby, who is coming from the sterile environment of the uterus into the world," explains Fjeld, adding that colostrum's normal bacteria "help the baby digest the milk as it increases."
Fjeld explains that "as soon as the placenta is released from the uterus, hormone levels surge so that the body begins to increase the volume of milk." By the third or fourth day after birth, the colostrum will have changed to more mature milk, which can look bluish white and will be more watery than colostrum.
A YouTube video from Today’s Parent:
