A NEW mum was shocked when she discovered she could ‘breastfeed from her armpit’ after a white liquid started to seep out.
The 26-year-old woman had started to feel a pain in her right armpit just two days after giving birth.
Milk can be drained from the tissue, but this is only possible once the pregnancy is completedCredit: New England Journal of Medicine
Doctors examined the patient and found a round, firm lymph node that released white discharge when pressed.
Writing in a case report in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors in Lisbon, Portugal said the condition was consistent with polymastia.
This is a condition where breast tissue develops along the ridge of the breast.
Previous studies show that this is the most common place for women to develop accessory breast tissue.
Other studies show that up to six per cent of women are born with ‘accessory tissue’.
During pregnancy a ’embryonic ridge’ develops, and it is fully developed once the pregnancy is completed.
Once the woman has given birth, milk can then drain from the tissue – this in turn can make it bigger, as seen with the case study.
The woman had been complaining of sore armpits and had visited a doctorCredit: New England Journal of Medicine
This can cause pain and discomfort for the patient.
After a full examination, medics diagnosed the patient with lymphadenopathy and lipoma.
A lipoma is a benign lump filled with fat, they are not cancerous but do sometimes have to be surgically removed.
People who have had one lipoma and those who have a family history of them do tend to get them again.
A lymphadenopathy is a disease of the lymph nodes and just means that they are a swollen size.
The patient in the case study was advised that her condition was benign.
She was also advised that if she ever went for a breast cancer screening, then this tissue would also have to be examined.
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But it’s not just new mums that can suffer from strange lactation.
It was previously reported that a baby boy started to leak milk from his nipples when he was just a week old.
Neonatal galactorrhea affects just two per cent of babies worldwide, both male and female.
The condition is caused by high levels of oestrogen in the mother during pregnancy, which transfers over into the baby’s bloodstream via the placenta and stimulates breast tissue growth and milk production.
