The change of thickness of mammary gland tissue before and after breastfeeding in early postpartum: An ultrasonographic study

Abstract

Purpose

Ultrasonographic diagnostic imaging has recently been applied to breast care. The present study used ultrasonography to define postpartum changes in the thickness of mammary gland tissue between before and after breastfeeding. We also aimed to determine the relationship between the thickness of mammary gland tissue and the volume of suckled milk.

Method

Fifty-one puerperal women were assessed by ultrasonography before and after breastfeeding at four to seven days after birth in a rooming-in system between January and September 2013. The thickness of mammary gland tissue in the left and right breasts and the volume suckled during each feed were measured.

Results

We analyzed 91 breasts in 15 primiparous and 33 multiparous women who continued breastfeeding after birth. The thickness of mammary gland tissue significantly decreased after breastfeeding (p<0.01). The mean thickness of the tissue before and after breastfeeding was 33.6±8.86 and 32.0±8.47 mm, respectively. The difference in thickness of the tissue weakly correlated with the amount of suckling (r=0.27, p<0.01). The correlation was significant in primiparous, but not in multiparous women (r=0.40 and r=0.17, respectively).

Conclusion

The ultrasonographic findings showed that the thickness of mammary gland tissue was significantly decreased after, compared with before breastfeeding during the early postpartum period. Furthermore, the relationship between the thickness of mammary gland tissue before and after breastfeeding and the amount of suckling suggested that either primiparous women were significantly correlated during the early postpartum period, but were not significantly correlated for multiparous women. This study most importantly revealed that ultrasound images show changes in the thickness of mammary gland tissue before and after breastfeeding during the early postpartum period.