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Maternal (Expert Forum)
premature developement
Patient medical question and answer from The Maternal and Child Health Forum. Health topic area and articles about newborn care
premature developement
by Colen__0, Nov 18, 1998 12:00AM
When my daughter was born she had what is considered "normal". Vaginal bleeding and enlarged, leeking breasts. In the first two weeks her breasts were engorged to the point of actually having mastitis. I was instructed at the time to give gentle massage in a warm bath to relieve some of her pain and as I did this they actually did drain. It wasn't long before the redness and most of the "swelling" went down. Now she is 18 months old and still has hard, large breasts. I still breastfeed her maybe 3 times in a 24 hr period, and asume there is a possability that she could be getting hormones from me. My fear is that this not the case and that I either did damage to her by massaging her breasts as a newborn, or that she is going to be one of those unfortunate few that start puberty way to early. Could this be caused by a hormonal inbalance that has no relation to my milk? What in your opinion do you feel is most likely.
Thank you for your help
Sincerley Colleen
________________________________
Dear Colleen:
During the period between birth and the pubertal changes of adolescence, transient partial pubertal development occurs commonly. In the first month of life, in response to the hormonal flood of the peripartum period, many girls and boys develop breast tissue, vaginal discharge is expected and even bleeding is not infrequent, and both sexes may develop neonatal acne.
Beginning around six months of age, some girls experience isolated early breast development. This is called premature thelarche. This breast development is unassociated with accelerated growth or the appearance of pubic hair. It does not progress to precocious puberty. No laboratory studies are required if the girl is growing normally and no other pubertal changes appear. Often in such cases, the breast tissue diminishes in size before true puberty, although it may not. In most cases, premature thelarche reflects an increased internal sensitivity of receptors in breast tissue to normal levels of estrogens circulating in the child. I presume your daughter is not receiving treatment with topical estrogen cream. Breast feeding does not explain premature thelarche.
You did no damage to your daughter's breasts by massaging them earlier.
I hope this response is useful. It is provided for educational purposes only.
HFHS.MD-HSW
KEYWORDS: Premature thelarche, precocious puberty
