pregnancy breast changes

Pregnancy brings about many changes in a woman’s body. The uterus and placenta grows, more blood is produced, more water is retained, even hands or ankles can swell. But one of the key body areas that changes during pregnancy, and can even be a sign or symptom of pregnancy, are breasts.

Before pregnancy a woman may notice breast changes coming up to ovulation and this is linked with changing hormone levels.

During the early stages of pregnancy and in fact during the whole period of time up to and including breast feeding, breasts increase in size, they can become lumpy, veins under breast skin may become more noticeable and nipples can change color. This again is due to certain increased hormone levels.

Hormone levels during pregnancy and how they affect breast changes:

The hormones that increase a lot during pregnancy are estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is responsible for increasing the mass or amount of breast tissue while the hormone progesterone increases the ability of the breast to retain water.

painful breasts pregnancy

Painful breasts can be an early pregnancy symptom.

In the early stages of pregnancy breasts can be painful or sore or tingle. After roughly two months of pregnancy your breasts generally grow larger and Read more