Breast Examination During Pregnancy

Breast cancer is one of the most feared conditions in the world. There is an one in eight chance to develop breast cancer during one’s life time. So any woman who attends any clinic should be told about the benefits of breast examination and taught self breast examinations. During pregnancy woman comes to the antenatal clinic during her checkup. She needs to have at least one breast examination. During pregnancy breast enlarges in size and the area around the nipples known as areola becomes more pigmented. Some nodular structures known as montgomery follicles, becomes prominent around the breast. Some pregnant woman may have slight milky discharge although rarely it may have an ominous significance portraying death of the fetus in the womb. Pregnant woman sometimes get a strange pain on the nipples because of erected hardened nipples. If the pregnant woman feels a lump and has signs of inflammation then she should be examined by her doctor to rule out one of the rare types of cancer.