A supportive bra will minimize the gravitational drag of enlarged breasts on those ligaments. Consider changing to a form of exercise that involves less jarring motion, such as swimming, walking, or using a treadmill or exercise bike. By the end of pregnancy, each breast has 15 to 20 lobes, each consisting of a major branch of the alveoli on the interior end and a milk duct that narrows to an opening in the nipple on the exterior. Each of those lobes, in turn, branches inward into 20 to 40 lobules, smaller milk ducts with 10 to 100 supporting alveoli or milk sacs. Without stimulation from a sucking infant or pump, milk production is on hold, thanks to the inhibiting effects of estrogen and progesterone on prolactin, which prompts milk-making cells into action.
Colostrum is now more likely to leak from breasts.
The nipple should pop out. If it turns inward, talk to your health-care provider, who may recommend you sparingly massage your nipples. Now is the time to take a breastfeeding class, offered by hospitals and childbirth education associations. Such instruction provides more information than the short segment on nursing included in childbirth classes, says Auer. If you're leaking a lot, consider wearing a properly fitted nursing bra with washable pads.