How to clean nipples during pregnancy How to care for breasts during pregnancy

Pregnant women should take good care of their breasts during pregnancy. Breast health is not only related to themselves but also to the baby in their belly. If pregnant women do not take good care of their breasts, there will be a lot of trouble. Expectant mothers need to learn a lot of little knowledge about pregnancy.

How to clean nipples during pregnancy

Step 1: Wash daily with mild soap and water

Scrub the areola and nipple skin with mild soap and water every day, and clean the skin folds. If the nipple scab is difficult to remove, you can first apply some vegetable oil (sesame oil, peanut oil or soybean oil), wait for the scab to soften, and then wash it with clean water. If there is something like a hard scab on the nipple, do not remove it abruptly. You can cover the nipple with a square gauze about 10 cm long and coated with oil before going to bed. Then, wipe off the hard scab after getting up the next morning.

Step 2: Nipple Care

After each bath, apply olive oil or vitamin ointment on the nipples, and gently rub the nipples and surrounding areas with your thumb and index finger for about 5 minutes. Do this every day to make the nipple skin less delicate, so that the mother will not feel pain when the baby sucks the nipple after birth.

Step 3: Correcting inverted nipples

If you have flat nipples or inverted nipples, you can start correcting them now. Use your thumb, index finger, and middle finger to pinch the nipple and gently pull it outwards. Hold for a moment, pull it 15 times each time, and do it 3 times a day. You can also use a breast pump for correction.

Step 4: Massage your breasts correctly

After cleaning the areola and nipple each time, cover the breast with a hot towel and press gently with your hands. After wiping the breast clean, apply some edible olive oil and gently massage it clockwise from the inside of the breast to the outside. Use the belly of your finger to gently massage around the breast in a circular motion. Gently press the breast and gently massage from all sides toward the nipple. Press the edge of the areola with your thumb and index finger, and then gently squeeze with two fingers.

How to care for breasts during pregnancy

1. Clean with warm water: Expectant mothers should gently scrub the areola and nipple skin with warm water every day, and clean the skin wrinkles. Reminder: It is best to use clean water when cleaning the nipples, because soap, shower gel and other cleaning items will damage the protective layer on the surface of the skin, causing the surface of the breast skin to swell, which is not conducive to breast health.

2. Treatment of nipple scabs: If the expectant mother has nipple scabs, do not remove the scabs harshly. It is best to apply some vegetable oil (sesame oil, peanut oil or soybean oil) first, and then wash it with clean water after the scabs soften. In addition, you can cover the nipple with a square gauze about 10 cm long and coated with oil before going to bed. The hard scabs can be easily wiped off when you get up the next morning.

3. Nipple care: The nipples are very fragile and sensitive during pregnancy, but they are also the place where the baby drinks breast milk, so for the baby's future food, nipple care during pregnancy is also necessary. It is recommended that pregnant women apply olive oil or vitamin ointment on the nipples after each bath, and gently rub the nipples and surrounding areas with the thumb and index finger for about 5 minutes, which can make the nipple skin less delicate and breastfeeding less painful after delivery.

Precautions for pregnant women to clean their breasts

1. Do not use soap and alcohol for cleaning

During the period of colostrum, colostrum is easy to form scabs on the nipples, which should be softened with ointment first, and then removed with warm water. If soap or alcohol is used to clean the nipples before delivery, the oil secreted by the sebaceous glands around the nipples to protect the skin will be removed, and the nipples will be too dry and easily cracked and damaged. Therefore, pregnant women who plan to breastfeed are not recommended to use soap and alcohol to clean their breasts.

2. Choose the right underwear

From pregnancy to delivery, the volume of a woman's breasts increases by about two cup sizes. Pregnant women should choose a looser bra to avoid friction between the nipples and the fiber fabric entering the milk ducts, resulting in no milk or less milk after delivery. Pregnant women should choose a bra that does not give them a sense of pressure, and should change to a different type of bra for pregnant women as the breasts change.

3. Choose the right massage oil

Women should choose a safe and suitable massage oil for breast massage during pregnancy. Start from the center of the breast and wrap the breast with the palm of your hand, massaging in a circular motion from the inside to the outside and from top to bottom. Repeat the massage five to six times, then switch to the other side. Cup your palm and push the soft flesh of the pectoralis major muscle toward the chest, from the armpit to the center of the chest. Repeat five to six times, then switch to the other side. Massage like this every morning and evening. The breasts will become more and more elastic, and stretch marks will not appear due to physiological changes that make the breasts larger. At the same time, they will recover quickly after giving birth and breastfeeding.

4. Perform breast self-examination

Pregnant women must perform regular breast self-examinations to familiarize themselves with their physical condition. More importantly, it will enable them to detect breast diseases early and master breast self-examination.

For example, after four months of pregnancy, some expectant mothers' clothes on their chests will suddenly get wet in two spots, and occasionally you will see tiny white flakes sticking to the nipples, or even a few drops of transparent or light milky yellow liquid may flow out of the nipples. But if the secretion is always black liquid, it is recommended that you go to the hospital for a secretion test or a breast infrared scan.

How to massage breasts with hot compresses during pregnancy

Use a clean towel dipped in warm water, wipe in a circular motion from the center of the nipple to the areola, apply hot compresses on both sides alternately, 15 minutes on each side, and massage in the following ways:

1. Circular massage: Place your hands on the upper and lower parts of the breast and massage the entire breast in a circular direction.

2. Spiral massage: Hold the breast with one hand, and use the index and middle fingers of the other hand to massage in a spiral shape towards the nipple.

3. Acupressure massage: Place your hands on both sides of the breasts and squeeze from the breasts to the nipples.