Breast development takes place during fetal life, at puberty, and the first time a woman gives birth. This is a guide to the stages of breast growth, what girls worry about and troublesome news of the effects of toxins shed light on the subject.
Breasts Development Starts Before Birth
The breast ridge appears at the nipple line six weeks after conception. By the time a mother is six months pregnant, the unborn baby has nipples. Sweat glands begin to grow individual ducts to the nipple and at birth a baby girl has a basic structure needed to grow breasts.
Changes Occur During Puberty
- Before puberty, only the nipples are raised on the chest.
- When the ovaries begin to secrete estrogen, milk glands are created from sweat glands and the nipples are pushed away from the chest wall by breast buds. The areola (skin around the nipple) begins to darken. Underarm hair begins to grow about this time.
- The breasts become slightly larger as milk glands grow.
- Estrogen eventually builds to a level that causes ovulation. Then progesterone takes over, a hormone that develops the ductwork from milk glands to the nipple. The breasts look like a double-decker ice cream cone because the areola forms a separate mound.
- Breast tissue continues to proliferate until the two mounds are smoothed together and only the nipple is raised from the breast.
Abnormal Development due to Environment
A University of Florida research team examined the breasts of Mayan girls in Mexico and found that exposure to pesticides, some of which are in use in the United States, caused the girls' breasts to develop without milk glands (Guillette, et.al., 2006) . The girls otherwise appeared normal and were even large-breasted. The researchers knew the pesticides were to blame because the culture had split into two groups over disagreement about pesticide use; in other ways they were identical to a control group of Mayan ranchers who did not use pesticides.
Girls Worry about Breast Cancer
According to breastcancer.org, the current attention to breast cancer awareness has had one drawback: young girls now worry excessively about breast cancer. Nearly 30% of a study group believed they already had cancer, due to misinformation and the normal appearance of milk glands, or "lumps", in their breasts. Girls need to have the facts about healthy lifestyle choices that do make a difference.
Cyclic Changes and Motherhood
Mature breasts continue to change. The alternating dominance of estrogen, responsible for milk glands and ovulation, and progesterone, which stimulates duct growth and menstruation, account for cyclic times of tenderness that most women experience.
Besides milk glands and ducts, breasts contain fat cells and lymph. Fibrocystic breast tissue refers to thick areas that may be painful. Lowering caffeine intake and supplementing Omega-3 fatty acids may bring relief. Healthy circulation of blood and lymph should not be constricted by bras that contain wires or that are too tight, and bras should not be worn during sleep.
Only after a woman gives birth to her first child are her breasts fully developed, ready to nurture offspring. Breastmilk is designed to meet all the needs of a human infant for the first six months of life. Because human milk changes as the baby grows, breastfeeding continues to provide brain growth hormones and immune factors for toddlers as well.
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