Pregnancy with fibrocystic mastopathy. Fibrocystic mastopathy of the mammary gland during pregnancy. Endocrine disorders in FCM

Mastopathy is a benign growth of breast tissue that can occur in approximately 2/3 of women of different ages. And often women have the question of whether it is possible to get pregnant with mastopathy.

Is it possible to get pregnant with mastopathy?

In order to answer it, you need to know how pregnancy affects mastopathy. During pregnancy, progesterone is produced first by the ovaries (), and from the second trimester by the placenta, to maintain the normal development of the fetus in the uterine cavity. This hormone reduces tissue proliferation in diffuse mastopathy, and in nodular mastopathy it reduces the size of the nodes. Sometimes mastopathy in pregnant women goes away completely under the influence of progesterone. Therefore, with mastopathy, you can get pregnant, and this will have a positive effect on the course of the disease.

How to distinguish mastopathy from pregnancy?

During pregnancy, a hormone begins to be produced in the first trimester, which promotes the restructuring of the mammary glands for future feeding of the baby. The mammary gland swells, becomes painful, denser, which can be mistakenly mistaken for mastopathy. But the restructuring of the glands usually takes place in the second trimester, gradually, nodules are not formed under the influence of prolactin - nodules are characteristic of mastopathy and nodular mastopathy does not go away completely during pregnancy, only small nodules can resolve.

Mastopathy during pregnancy - treatment

If a woman is diagnosed with mastopathy before pregnancy, then pregnancy is a good reason to get rid of this disease. Mastopathy during pregnancy and breastfeeding (more than 3 months) often disappears without a trace without any treatment under the influence of natural processes in the woman’s body. Pregnancy has a better effect on the gland if the woman has diffuse mastopathy or worse - for other types of disease.

Fibrocystic mastopathy and pregnancy

With fibrocystic mastopathy, along with the growth of fibrous tissue, cavities filled with liquid (cysts) may appear inside it. And pregnancy has a beneficial effect on them, but if fibrous mastopathy is a predominance of dense fibrous growths that resolve under the influence of progesterone, then cystic mastopathy is characterized by the presence of cavities with fluid, and pregnancy affects them less. However, with breastfeeding for more than 6 months, they decrease significantly and even disappear.

Fibrocystic mastopathy and pregnancy are not interrelated. The disease can also occur in non-pregnant women. More often, mastopathy develops after 35-40 years.

The following factors contribute to this:

  • Unfavorable environmental situation.
  • Unhealthy lifestyle and poor nutrition.
  • Hormonal imbalances.
  • Genetic predisposition.

Mastopathy during pregnancy is quite common, but there is no need to worry. You can give birth safely, since during the period of bearing a child, the body produces hormones that help cure the disease. In half of the cases, after the birth of a child or breastfeeding, all signs of mastopathy disappear.

Symptoms of the disease

Most women under 40 find out that they have mastopathy even before pregnancy. In some cases, the diagnosis can be made while the child is pregnant. In some cases, the pathology goes unnoticed.

But gradually the following symptoms begin to appear:

  • The mammary glands swell and become engorged.
  • Constant or occasional chest pain.
  • Small lumps can be felt in the tissues of the gland.

The gynecologist with whom the woman is registered must constantly monitor the condition of the patient’s breasts, so symptoms of mastopathy during pregnancy can be detected in the early stages of the development of the disease.

To confirm the diagnosis, special studies are carried out. Usually, women over 40 are prescribed mammography, but since the procedure is carried out using ionizing radiation, so as not to harm the child, ultrasound is prescribed.

The effect of pregnancy on mastopathy

The disease most often develops in women who have not given birth to a child before the age of 40. That is why experts say that pregnancy and prolonged breastfeeding are excellent prevention of not only fibrocystic disease, but also breast cancer.

For women who already suffer from mastopathy, the question arises whether it is possible to become pregnant before the disease is completely cured.

Experts say that mastopathy and conception do not interfere with each other. During pregnancy, there is even a chance that the disease will go away on its own.

This happens because at the beginning of pregnancy, the ovaries, and in the middle, the placenta begins to actively produce progesterone. This hormone reduces the effect of estrogen on the mammary glands and stops the process of tissue proliferation. Therefore, during pregnancy it is possible to completely cure diffuse mastopathy and reduce the manifestations of nodular mastopathy.

Is mastopathy that occurs during pregnancy treated?

If you are diagnosed with mastopathy while carrying a child, you can hope for a speedy recovery. Very often, after the birth of a baby and prolonged breastfeeding, the disease goes away even without treatment. This occurs under the influence of natural processes in the mammary glands.

Pregnancy can have a good effect on the body with diffuse mastopathy, but with its other forms treatment may be necessary.

Fibrocystic mastopathy during pregnancy can also go away without appropriate therapy. This form of the disease is characterized not only by the proliferation of fibrous tissue, but also by the formation of cavities filled with fluid, which are called cysts.

Carrying a child affects fibrous tissue in such a way that neoplasms resolve, but cysts may remain. Then treatment may be needed.

True, it may be that during lactation lasting more than six months, the cysts will decrease or disappear, but this does not always happen.

Therapy is selected individually for each woman. If the mastopathy is not diffuse, then taking into account the state of hormonal levels and concomitant diseases, a course of treatment is chosen. This is very difficult, since many drugs are contraindicated for pregnant women.

Treatment of the disease in this case is aimed at:

  1. Stopping the inflammatory process.
  2. Reducing the number of neoplasms.
  3. Establishing hormonal balance.
  4. Reduced painful symptoms.
  5. Normalization of the functions of the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.

Success in treatment largely depends on the behavior of the woman herself. Ladies over 40 especially need to take care of themselves.

The patient herself can bring recovery closer if she:

  1. Eat right and give up bad habits.
  2. Engage in light physical exercise.
  3. Rest and sleep at least eight hours a day.
  4. Avoid stress.
  5. Walk outdoors more often.
  6. Avoid direct sunlight on the mammary glands.

Mastopathy during pregnancy is not a reason not to give birth to a child. On the contrary, this process may have a better effect on the course of the disease than traditional treatment. But this does not mean that the symptoms of the disease should be ignored. You must consult a doctor immediately.

Many women are concerned about the question: how compatible are fibrocystic mastopathy and pregnancy? Mammologists are unanimous - the presence of benign lumps in the breast will not harm the health of the expectant mother and baby.

In addition, against the background of natural hormonal changes in the body, tumors can resolve without any treatment. It is important to monitor your well-being from the first days of pregnancy and constantly be under the supervision of a doctor.

Products containing natural prolactin or its analogues are suitable. Containing folic acid, calcium, magnesium, vitamins C, A and E have a positive effect.

Fibrocystic mastopathy can significantly decrease during pregnancy, and breastfeeding will complete the healing process.

That is why mammologists, gynecologists and oncologists recommend not to be upset by an unplanned conception, but to perceive it as an opportunity not only to give birth to a healthy baby, but also to completely get rid of an unpleasant disease and prevent possible complications.

You can find additional information on this topic in the section.

Mastopathy is a pathology of the mammary gland that can occur in women of any age due to hormonal imbalances in the body. This disease often occurs in pregnant women, either when it first developed during pregnancy or when it was diagnosed earlier. In both cases, timely diagnosis and adequate therapy taking into account the woman’s condition are required.

Mastopathy is not a disease that threatens pregnancy, but its timely treatment will help avoid unpleasant moments

Manifestations and course of mastopathy during pregnancy

Pregnancy and mastopathy are often combined. However, the course of the pathology varies and depends on many factors.

  1. If mastopathy develops during the first pregnancy in a woman who has not yet turned thirty years old, without concomitant pathologies and with minimal changes in hormone levels, in 90% of cases the course of the disease will be mild and will not affect the woman’s situation in any way.
  2. With the long-term development of pathology that developed before pregnancy, as well as with the onset of pregnancy in women after 30–35 years of age, a moderate course of the disease is possible.
  3. Concomitant pathology, pronounced changes in hormonal levels, regardless of age, can cause severe mastopathy.

Pathologies of other hormone-producing organs, for example, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, can complicate the course of mastopathy.

Regardless of age, time of onset of the disease and the course of the pathology, there are common symptoms that help recognize mastopathy.

  1. A feeling of heaviness in the chest that remains throughout pregnancy.
  2. A compaction in one or both glands, which the woman herself can feel upon palpation.
  3. A possible symptom that does not occur in all women is nipple discharge.
  4. During pregnancy, the presence of pain is characteristic, especially pronounced in the first trimester.

Increased body temperature, increased fatigue, and excessive drowsiness may be symptoms of an infectious pathology.

Chest pain, fever, lactostasis (during breastfeeding) indicate the development of mastitis

Is it possible to get pregnant with mastopathy?

Mastopathy develops when the natural hormonal levels of a woman’s body are disrupted. It is the normal ratio between estrogen and progesterone that contributes to the onset of ovulation, normal fertilization, as well as the movement of the fertilized egg through the fallopian tubes and its attachment to the wall of the uterus.

Changes that occur in the ratio of these two hormones significantly reduce the chance of getting pregnant. However, the presence of mastopathy does not exclude pregnancy. In the question of whether it is possible to get pregnant with mastopathy, other factors also play a role. Among them:

  • woman’s age (the chances decrease, but do not disappear after 35 years);

Changes in hormonal levels along with a woman’s age significantly reduce the chances of getting pregnant

  • stage of the pathological process;
  • presence or absence of complications;
  • hormone levels and their activity;
  • neuropsychic state of a woman.

A slight increase in estrogen may not affect a woman’s ability to become pregnant and give birth at all. However, doctors recommend that all women plan a pregnancy and undergo a medical examination first. It will show a woman’s chances of developing a pregnancy and help predict its course.

How does pregnancy affect mastopathy?

Mastopathy is a pathology of the mammary gland that develops under the influence of disrupted hormonal levels in the body. For the development of mastopathy, a prerequisite is a decrease in progesterone levels and an increase in estrogen levels.

Violation of the necessary balance between hormones provokes the development of mastopathy

In this case, a decrease in progesterone levels or an increase in estrogen levels is conditional. The most important is the change in the ratio between these hormones in the body. If estrogen levels increase, progesterone levels may remain the same, but the ratio between the hormones still changes.

Hormonal imbalance in mastopathy is a pathological process. However, pregnancy itself involves changes in hormone levels.

If a woman does not have concomitant pathology from the internal secretion organs (thyroid gland, adrenal glands, thymus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland), an uncomplicated course of mastopathy during pregnancy is possible.

The most dangerous complication of mastopathy is its malignancy

If the level of estrogen does not change during pregnancy, and progesterone decreases, it is possible that the course of mastopathy in pregnant women will worsen. In this case, one should be wary of the development of complications of the pathological process (attachment of a purulent inflammatory process) and malignant degeneration of glandular tissue.

It is impossible to predict how mastopathy and pregnancy will interact in each individual woman. This largely depends on the following factors:

  • woman's age;
  • the number of previous pregnancies and births, as well as their course;

The course of mastopathy during pregnancy is greatly influenced by the patient’s obstetric history.

  • time of development of mastopathy (before or after pregnancy);
  • initial hormonal background;
  • concomitant pathological conditions;
  • past diseases;
  • family history;
  • characteristics of the region of residence.

The combination of fibrocystic mastopathy and pregnancy requires closer attention from a gynecologist in comparison with an uncomplicated pregnancy. For any form of mastopathy, a pregnant woman is advised to consult a mammologist.

A conversation with a doctor and the necessary diagnostic tests will help you avoid dangerous complications.

Impact of illness on childbirth

Mastopathy has absolutely no effect on the course of labor. The only nuance is the presence or absence of purulent complications. If fibrocystic mastopathy during pregnancy is complicated by an inflammatory process with purulent effusion, it is absolutely forbidden to put the baby to the mother’s breast after childbirth.

In this case, it is necessary to immediately, after giving birth, give the child adapted milk formulas. It is possible to transfer the baby to natural feeding only after the purulent process has been eliminated with the permission of the obstetrician and pediatrician.

Postpartum changes in the body

The giving birth body is characterized by a completely different hormonal background than during pregnancy.

Secretion of prolactin allows breastfeeding

If during pregnancy the ratio of estrogens and progesterones was most significant, then after childbirth a woman’s action of the hormone prolactin comes to the fore. It is thanks to him that milk is produced in the body.

Mastopathy is not an obstacle to normal lactation.

However, breastfeeding can significantly affect the course of the pathology. Almost half of women after childbirth experience lactation mastitis, which is associated with stagnation of breast milk in the glands, which leads to the development of an inflammatory process of the mammary glands. This condition is quite easily corrected - you need to constantly express milk and massage the breasts. However, with mastopathy, milk stagnation can become a serious complication.

Lactostasis – stagnation of breast milk in the ducts of the gland

Breastfeeding women may experience lactation mastitis with existing mastopathy of the mammary glands. The anatomical structure of the gland is already pathologically changed, so stagnation of milk in the ducts quickly leads to infection. This is fraught with the development of purulent mastitis. If a woman does not notice the symptoms of inflammation in a timely manner, then purulent masses will be released from the gland along with milk, which can enter the body of the newborn baby.

Therefore, it is extremely important to identify pathology during pregnancy (and even better during planning) and undergo a course of treatment. If it was not possible to get rid of mastopathy before birth, you can feed your baby breast milk only with the permission of an obstetrician-gynecologist or pediatrician. During lactation, it is necessary to constantly express milk and undergo examination to prevent possible complications of the pathology. With a normal period of breastfeeding, lactation has a positive effect on the course of the disease.

Breastfeeding is not contraindicated for mastopathy

Most doctors agree that breastfeeding helps to get rid of the symptoms of mastopathy.

Treatment of pathology

Treatment of mastopathy during pregnancy begins with a visit to a mammologist. It is mandatory to conduct an ultrasound diagnosis of the mammary glands. In this case, the form of the disease (nodular or diffuse) and localization are determined. Performing several studies throughout the entire period of pregnancy allows you to dynamically monitor the activity of the process and the rate of development of the pathology.

A necessary study is to determine the level of estrogen and progesterone in the blood. This diagnostic procedure must be repeated at least three times - in each trimester of pregnancy, which will help to monitor not only the course of the disease, but also to predict its activity and impact on pregnancy.

Pregnant women with mastopathy need to periodically monitor the body's hormonal levels

The most favorable for treatment is nodular mastopathy. If there is a high risk of complications in this case, initial correction with hormonal drugs is recommended. If drug treatment is ineffective, a surgical operation is indicated in which part or all of the gland is removed completely, followed by plastic surgery.

More than one year. The most effective is the restoration of adequate hormonal levels. In this case, the initial levels of estrogen and progesterone are determined and correction with hormonal drugs is prescribed. If malignant degeneration is suspected, a mastectomy is performed - removal of the mammary gland with the possibility of subsequent plastic surgery.

Uncomplicated mastopathy of any form with low process activity requires dynamic monitoring and may not be corrected during pregnancy. In all other cases, drug or surgical treatment may be necessary.

Treatment of mastopathy begins with medications, if ineffective, surgical intervention is used.

Lack of treatment during mastopathy during pregnancy may slightly complicate its course or have no effect at all. However, with high activity of the process or the presence of complications, lack of treatment can lead to the development of severe pathology for the health of the mother and the intrauterine development of the child. It is optimal to plan pregnancy and treat mastopathy before it occurs.

If such a situation is impossible, the treatment method is selected individually for each woman by a council of doctors from an obstetrician-gynecologist, mammologist and surgeon.

The video talks about preventing mastitis during breastfeeding:

If you have certain diseases, planning a baby is strictly prohibited or not recommended. Is it possible to get pregnant with mastopathy, or should this disease be cured first, and how can the disease affect pregnancy and the health of the woman herself?

Currently, many representatives of the fair sex have to deal with a disease such as mastopathy. Is it possible to get pregnant against its background and what is the danger of the disease? Subject specialists answer these and other questions.

In mastopathy, pathological changes in the tissues of the mammary gland are observed. With the fibrotic type of disease, the breasts increase in size, lumps appear in them, and discomfort occurs in this area. Cystic mastopathy is considered more dangerous. In this case, the compactions are more pronounced and have a clear localization. Individual cysts are much more likely to develop into a malignant tumor.

Mastopathy itself is not dangerous, but oncologists believe that this condition should not be ignored. If the disease is neglected, the risk of a benign or even malignant tumor increases. There are many reasons for the appearance of this type of disease. The most common ones include hormonal disorders, early or late onset of menstruation, no history of pregnancy, abortion, and taking medications. If mastopathy is detected at the stage of planning conception, only a specialist can give competent advice as to whether the disease should be treated and pregnancy should be postponed for a while, or whether a wait-and-see approach should be chosen. This condition is not a contraindication to planning a baby.

Mastopathy quite often occurs due to a lack of progesterone. It is the deficiency of this hormone that can become an obstacle to successful conception. If pregnancy does not occur, you must undergo appropriate tests.

If a woman is planning a baby, but the doctor has diagnosed mastopathy, she needs to undergo an ultrasound examination. It is very important to exclude the possibility of developing cancer. Sometimes it is necessary to submit biological material for analysis. In the presence of an oncological tumor, pregnancy is contraindicated.

If a woman has fibrous or fibrocystic mastopathy, she may well plan to conceive, unless, of course, there are other contraindications. In any case, she should talk to her oncologist about this. Treatment of mastopathy during pregnancy is contraindicated, but, as practice shows, the disease goes away on its own after childbirth. Often, doctors even advise their patients to get pregnant so that the manifestations of the disease completely disappear. This is especially true for women over 25 who have not yet become mothers.

During pregnancy, the hormonal background in the body changes, the concentration of progesterone in the blood increases, which helps cure mastopathy. Doctors also consider breastfeeding the best prevention of problems with the mammary glands. It is after prolonged feeding of the baby that mastopathy most often disappears without a trace. At the same time, even quite severe forms of it can be cured. Oncologists advise women to breastfeed their newborns for 6 months or even longer. This will have a beneficial effect on the health of both mother and baby.

You can relieve chest pain due to mastopathy by applying cabbage leaves and honey cakes to it. Herbal infusions and medications are contraindicated during pregnancy. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe synthetic progesterone.

Pregnancy against the background of mastopathy is possible and even desirable. Very often, the manifestations of the disease completely disappear after childbirth. But at the planning stage of conception, a woman must undergo examination to exclude the possibility of having an oncological tumor.