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Post-pregnancy boob question(s)
I want to apologize in advance if anyone feels this is an ignorant, insensitive or superficial topic. As someone who has never been pregnant but imagines it will be in her medium term future, what happens to boobs after pregnancy? The most common response I get from my mom or my aunts is that there will be changes, but that it won’t matter once you have a baby. I also get smacked in the back of the head or pinched for asking them so needless to say, I don’t really get the detailed answers I’m looking for.
So up until that point when my perspective changes, my curiosity remains. Do boobs become smaller than their pre-pregnancy size? Less dense? Does the shape change? Do roots get wider? Narrower? What about stretch marks on boobs? Nipple position changes? Is there volume lost in the upper fullness? Is it lost all around? What happens when baby weight is shed? What if no baby weight is shed? Is fatty tissue lost? How is glandular tissue affected? Might one need to change (not just sizes) but also bra styles post pregnancy?
I’m afraid that after all I’ve learned about my shape and what works best for my boobs, I will have to unlearn and start over again on my bra journey with unfamiliar boobsSo in fact, it is part curiosity, part concern for my bra situation/self-knowledge.
/me braces for stern reprimanding
Filed under Boob and body issues
20 comments
Promise I wont be smacking you!
But the truth is, its different for different people.
For me, my boobs grew a cup size early in pregnancy, and another late in pregnancy, and another by the time the milk came in. And by the time I weaned, they only went down 2 cups, so I gained a cup size after each baby.
When you are pregnant or nursing, your boobs tend to be fuller. Generally after you are done being pregnant/nursing, they deflate some. Most women will not lose all of the baby weight, and that extra weight will likely include more boobs.
I've seen articles that say nursing doesnt make your boobs sag, its the pregnancy gain/loss of size that does, but I have no idea since I nursed each babe for years.
You can be almost certain that pregnancy and post-partum boobs will need different bras than you now have.
but life is all about change. Enjoy your youth . . . your body is most likely in the best shape it will ever be in.
Honestly, no 2 postpregnancy racks are the same.
A few generalizations hold true:
1/ If you bear children very young and/or your bewbs are very small and perky now, pregnancy will effect a greater transformation (whether they stay fuller due to weight gain, or if all weight is lost the skin will experience a lot of stretching etc.) Conversely if you already have large, heavy bewbs and are nearing 30 by the time you spawn, it's somewhat unlikely that you'll feel as traumatized by the changes. Mine pretty much doubled in volume through late pregnancy and early lactation, but the skin stretchage was nothing further than what had already been wrought by puberty-era growth and gravity. I had my first child at age 29, btw.
2/ Breastfeeding does affect the internal composition of the breasts (more glandular tissue and less fat) but has been found to have no effect on ptosis (sagging).
3/ A lot of people actually like their boobs as much or more after children/pregnancy. Some end up with larger or smaller breasts which can be a good thing just as often as it may be a bad thing for others (in terms of what they prefer, I mean). The skin is usually softer and less firm, but frankly this holds true of many other places on your body after expansion and retraction.
4/ The appearance of the areola and nipple also change, usually they become more pigmented and the skin there has some textural changes. Some people hate this, I personally was very happy with it as I previously had very tiny, almost white, down-pointing nipples and blue-ish areolas; after my first child they evolved to a warmer beige pink and my boobs now look like they are facing forward/up, which for some reason to me looks like they are "happier" (I know that sounds ridic but whatever).
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