Very embarassed to ask this but where does milk come out - nipple tip only or whole pink bit!!!

[peggotty]

I feel so stupid but can someone enlighten me as to where the milk actually comes out?! I have reasons for asking this [mysterious emoticon] !!

(DC2 due at end of Jan but 1st time potential bd'er)

I had breast surgery on each breast as a young teenager for abscesses and this has left me with a scar on each nipple in a sort of crescent moon shape at the other edge of the nipples (not the 'pointy bit' for want of a better phrase!) Would this interfere with the milk coming out. THe consultant many years ago mentioned I wouldn't be able to breast feed but the midwife has said that I can give it a go. I also think one breat has been leaking very slightly (I am 27 weeks pg) is this also a good sign?

Please don't compound my embarassment by ignoring my post!.....

it comes out from all over the nip. try squeezing your nipples and you should see it come out in little globules if you think you are producing all ready. if you are then i can imagine that you will be able to bf.

It comes out of the tip, its quite bizarre to see actually , really really fine jets of milk, good luck with bf, hope it works for you

Um I'm no expert, especially with the right words for the right bits but milk comes out of several holes on the top of your nipple. The baby latches onto the whole (or most) of the nipple area (the areola).

The milk comes out of several holes in your nipples that you didn't know you had Out of the top, at the front of the pointy bit.

When you say 'not the pointy bit' do you mean the areola (the softer circle round the nipple/pointy bit)?

A BF counsellor told me that surgery is less likely to interfere with breast feeding the further away from the nipple it is, but it depends on what kind of surgery it was. You could contact one of the BF helplines/support groups for advice, but there is no harm in giving it a go and even if your baby only got a tiny bit of colostrum or fed for a few days it would still be enormously beneficial.

It might be worth making sure that you have good BF support from a real expert set up in advance, because BF help in the NHS is patchy at best and you might find all sorts of professionals telling you you're not making enough milk/you can't do it when actually you are fine, simply because there is not much expertise out there.

Leaking from the breast might be a good sign but even if you didn't leak a drop it would not mean you had no milk. I have never leaked at all, even when my milk first came in, and yet I have plenty.

Best of luck

THank you all for replying! WRT 'Not the pointy bit', yes I mean the areola, thank you nineunlikelytales, I couldn't remember what it was called! So the milk doesn't actually come out of the areola then? But the baby would latch on to the nipple and the areola? The scars I have are on the outer edge of the areola, but the surgery was probably quite rudimentary, in that they just went in and lanced the abscesses. I don't know what it may have done to the inner workings/milk ducts of my breasts. I think I'll be quite upset if I can't bf as I've really psyched myself up to do it this time.

The baby takes he whole nipple in its mouth, but the milk comes out of all sorts of parts! On one of my nipples it came out right at the edge of the areola on the other, mainly close to the actual 'pointy bit'.

Try calling La Leche League for any breast feeding advice or look out for some breast feeding counsellors we have on here, theyve all changed their bloody names for halloween so I cant tell you any of them!

whilst milk does in fact come out of many holes in the tip of the nipple it also can, quite amazingly, come of places around the areola which I noticed to my surprise.

With last child .. there was one pin-prick of milk on one of my aereola and it seems there just happened to be a milk-duct and opening there so when baby sucked it naturally came out into a globule which I had to wipe away ... it was rather odd I felt .. never heard of that before.

Yep, right breast is definately producing something out of the 'pointy bit' as I shall always call it oh, and the left too. Sorry tmi! Would seem to suggest the milk ducts are working then? I will contact one of the breastfeeding organisations as well though!

Peggoty. I have had 2 benign breast lumps removed over the past 15 years. last one was done in 1999. That op gave me a crescent scar at the edge of my areola plus I have a line going across the middle of the breast from 1st op back in early 1990s (bigger lump). I am on my second baby and it didn't cause me any BF problems. I know our ops are not the same, but at least that might give you some hope! No one ever mentioned to me at the time it might interfere with feeding and never occurred to me to ask.

As suggested above though, worth making sure that you have BF counsellor or someone to help. Irrespective of the scars, I really found it helpful to have someone show me what I was doing wrong (I cut up very badly, despite MW saying he was latched up).

wow, around the aureole too??? i didnt know that. i've only seen coming through the actual nipple, will pay attention next time i express.