How does the milk come out?! There’s no hole or anything, it’s just skin, so how is the milk going to come out? It’s really got me perplexed, but I never REALLY had much birds-and-the-bees talk, and I’m not particularly close to my mother, so I can’t ask my husband. However, today, I had a good look at my boobs and the nipples. o.
The glandular tissue required for milk production replaces much of the fatty and supportive tissue that typically makes up the majority of the volume of your breast as your pregnancy progresses. Your breasts enlarge significantly as a result during pregnancy and lactation. These alterations may make you worry that breastfeeding will make your breasts sag or change shape after weaning, but this is unfounded. Your breasts will revert to their pre-pregnancy size and shape once your baby is weaned from the breast (when you stop nursing and your milk glands are once again replaced by fatty and supportive tissue) and you reach your pre-pregnancy weight.
Your breast areolae, particularly your nipples, will become incredibly sensitive to touch after your baby is born. Your brain receives a signal from the nerve cells in your baby’s mouth when it touches the nipple, which results in the release of the oxytocin hormone. Small muscle cells in the breasts contract as a result of oxytocin, forcing milk from the milk-producing cells down the milk ducts and into tiny sacs or sinuses close to the nipples.
The let-down or milk-ejection reflex, which is caused by an increase in oxytocin production, occurs as your baby suckers at the breast, drawing milk from the sinuses through the nipple and into her mouth. This is a simplified explanation of the intricate system your body uses to make sure that whenever your baby is hungry, it will give her the nutrition she needs.
Which of the physiological changes you go through prior to the birth of your baby are preparing your body for breastfeeding, and how does the process work?
Your body is fully capable of producing breastmilk by the end of the second trimester, so even if your child is born prematurely, you will be able to do so. The first milk produced, called colostrum, is a thick, somewhat sticky substance that is yellow or orange in hue. Your breasts are producing colostrum if you see yellow or orange stains on the inside of your maternity bra. However, some mothers do not become aware of any colostrum secretion until after the birth of their children. ).