The Booby Breakdown: Your Pumping Journey's Secret Weapon

Let's take a true deep dive into a brief breakdown of the breast and nipple anatomy to help understand the role flange sizing has on your pumping journey! This blog will have more than enough details to help you recognize the majority of your breast anatomy. 

The simple basics are the breast, the areola, and the nipple. The breast is easily identified as the fatty part, but it is made of fat and glandular tissue, all of which are held together by Cooper's ligaments. 

The areola is typically the darker-colored area of the breast tissue. It commonly resembles a circle or patch at the base of the nipple. During pregnancy, you can expect the areola to enlarge and possibly darken during this time. Sometimes you can see your Montgomery's Glands which are raised bumps on the areola. 

The nipple is the portion we are most focused on when dialing in flange sizing. The nipple is the tip of the breast (think cherry on a sunday) and the nipple is where the milk ducts all end allowing milk to exit the body. So far each nipple has been roughly estimated to have around 10 milk ducts to allow for milk transportation. 

The bigger picture includes the granular tissue, Alveoli and Lobules, Cooper's ligaments, veins, milk ducts, Montgomery's gland, and even nipple shape! Glandular Tissue is made up of tissue that resembles a cluster of grapes. Each "grape" is known as a Lobule and is made up of small alveoli. The alveoli houses the components to make breastmilk and aids in storing the milk that is made. This is why breast development can play a critical role in someone's milk supply as the amount of glandular tissue available in the breast determines the milk capacity.  

Cooper's Ligaments are the connective tissue responsible for connecting the breast to the fascia and muscles. These ligaments are surrounded by myths like "breastfeeding makes your breast saggy". This is completely false, just like other ligaments in your body age and the relaxin produced during pregnancy will cause the ligaments to stretch creating the sagging effect most women notice. 

Veins are always a part of the breast, but you may notice them more during pregnancy and lactation due to the increased blood flow to the area. Optimal blood flow to the breast is just as critical as other areas of the body as it brings key nutrition to the Alveoli responsible for making your baby's milk!

Milk ducts are the small tubes that take the milk from the Alveoli to the nipple. These tubes are very delicate and can become crushed by a multitude of events. When these tubes collapse which is referred to as a clogged milk duct, there's no true clog to remove, it is more about reducing inflammation to allow the tube to reinstitute normal milk flow again. 

Nipple shapes vary greatly. There's the typical average, flat, inverted, or puffy classification, but the shape could also mean the nipples are dimpled, short cone, long cone, bulbous, or raspberry-shaped. 

So with that full picture of the working lactating breast anatomy let's discuss flanges and how they impact your milk supply and nipple health. Flanges come in a variety of shapes and sizes now and this is largely due to how much we have learned about a lactating breast. The shape of a flange is critical for creating a perfect seal at the breast while not causing pressure on the tissue that could encourage the collapse of your milk ducts. The actual size plays a role in how much tissue is inside of the flange, we only want the nipple in the flange with the ability to move freely and allow its safe doubling or tripling in LENGTH not width. This is what triggers the hormonal process and begins the letdown reflex. Sizes of the flanges allow us to prevent the areola or breast tissue from getting into the flange and prevent inflammation and damage. Hopefully, this blog brings a lot more clarity to your pumping journey and your anatomy!