The Canadian Living complete breast guide

Actress Anne Heche summarized breasts really well: "What's so beautiful about breasts is their uniqueness. I don't understand the obsession with fakeness. It's a very odd thing, isn't it, to prefer fake and big to small and unique or just beautiful and real?"

As with our legs or our bellies, we might be proud of the way our breasts look, be embarrassed by them or not give them much thought -- that is, until they provoke wanted (or unwanted) attention, we see "perfect" ones in a magazine or movie, we become pregnant, or we worry about their health. In other words, there's a lot to consider about our bosom buddies.

Ages and stages
• In puberty, hormones kick in and the mammary ducts begin to stretch out, eventually developing a mature system of lobules (the glands that produce milk) and ducts (canals that transport the milk). The breasts don't stop growing until a woman is in her early 20s.

• During sexual activity, when a woman nears climax, her breasts swell slightly and the areola (the coloured area around the nipple) expands. Once climax is complete (after five to eight seconds), the areola shrinks to its normal size.

• During pregnancy, the number of lobules increases and they begin to produce milk.

• Breast-feeding not only supports a baby's development, but it's also good for the mom, too. Studies suggest that breast-feeding decreases risks for breast and ovarian cancers and osteoporosis.

• Women who breast-feed lose less blood after giving birth (because the uterus contracts faster) and tend to have more energy.

• Breast-feeding for at least six to nine months helps a woman lose fat from hard-to-lose places, such as the thighs.

• Breast-feeding may not permanently increase the size of a woman's breasts, says Dr. Bryan Callaghan, president of the Canadian Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Toronto. Usually, if you're small before your baby has been weened, you'll be smaller after; if you're big before, you'll be bigger after.

• After menopause, the number of lobules decreases and those that remain shrink in size. Breast density (the amount of glandular and connective tissue) decreases and a larger percentage of the breast becomes fatty tissue.

Breast-feeding is easy, right? Not always. Here's why.
• Cracked nipples. This painful condition occurs when babies are not properly latching onto the breast, perhaps due to poor positioning, says Frances Jones, the coordinator of lactation services for B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre and the coordinator of B.C. Women's Human Milk Bank in Vancouver. Soothe the nipple with expressed milk and warm water after feeding. And use a lanolin-based emollient, such as Lansinoh or Purely Yours, to help heal and keep skin moist.

• Lactating women may develop breast lumps. These are commonly caused by blocked ducts, which breast-feeding and massage usually relieve. Sometimes mothers develop milk-retention cysts called galactoceles, which need to be drained by a doctor. There's no cause for concern, but any lump should be checked out if it doesn't go away in a day or two.

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