Q&A: Finding a Lump in Your Breast During Pregnancy

During your pregnancy estrogen, progesterone and prolactin are changing your breasts to prepare your body for producing milk and breastfeeding. One of the biggest changes is the growth of additional breast tissue. It is recommended to examine your breasts and your armpits for lumps just to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary but chances are when you are pregnant you will have a lot of lumps where you didn’t before. We have been conditioned to associate a lump in our breast to cancer but another possibility during pregnancy is that it could be a lactating adenoma. This is a benign growth that will naturally disappear at the end of your pregnancy or when you have stopped breastfeeding. This episode answers a question about whether you should be worried about finding a lump in your breast during pregnancy.