Breast awareness during pregnancy

Importance of Breast Examinations

Regular breast examinations are important to perform before, during, and after pregnancy.

Monthly Breast Self-Examination (BSE)

It's a good idea to check your breasts at least once a month. This helps you become familiar with how they normally feel, making it easier to notice any changes or new lumps early on.

During pregnancy, hormonal changes can cause existing lumps in the breast to grow. While most lumps are not harmful, some can be cancerous. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer that can occur during pregnancy, affecting about 1 in 3,000 pregnancies.

Click here to learn how and how often to perform this examination as recommended by the Singapore Cancer Society.

Practice on the Breast Model

Our clinic offers a silicone breast model with lumps on one side for practice with a nurse. You can try to identify which side has the lump!

Clinical Breast Examination

This examination is usually done at 16 weeks of pregnancy, along with checking your heart and lung sounds in our clinic. It serves as a helpful check to compare your findings with the doctor’s and to assess your readiness for breastfeeding. If you have flat or inverted nipples, we can provide nipple formers or shields starting from 32 weeks. Please let us know if you would like to skip this examination by the doctor.

It's important to note that breast cancer is not more common during pregnancy compared to before or after, but if it does occur, it may grow more quickly.