Many women visit prenatal consultation clinics before pregnancy to undergo relevant examinations to rule out diseases that may affect conception, but have you ever thought of having a breast examination before pregnancy? There are many common breast diseases in women of childbearing age, such as breast lumps, nipple deformities, etc. Some of them are closely related to postpartum breastfeeding, and some are closely related to the life safety of the mother-to-be. 1. The most common tumor in young women – fibroids. Patients with a history of fibroids may experience rapid growth during pregnancy and breastfeeding due to hormone levels, and some may even compress the milk ducts, affecting breastfeeding and causing mastitis. For larger tumors or tumors with irregular morphology and unclear borders, it is best to have them surgically removed before pregnancy and the pathological examination to confirm the diagnosis, and then have the pregnancy 6 months after the surgery. 2. Inverted nipple: Inverted nipple is a common breast deformity in women of childbearing age, that is, the nipple is sunken in the normal position. The nipples are sunken and there are fiber bundles inside the nipple that pull the nipple to the breast tissue, and the breast ducts are very short and poorly developed. It usually occurs bilaterally, but can also occur unilaterally. The sunken area is easy to hide dirt and often causes local infection; the ducts of the breast are connected to the sunken area, so inflammation can spread to the breast and cause mastitis, making breastfeeding more difficult. The common methods used to correct nipple invagination are manual traction, i.e. Hoffman method – nipple stretching exercises, negative pressure suction (mainly syringe suction), surgery, and continuous traction with devices – i.e. wearing nipple invagination correctors. Hoffmann method – nipple stretching exercises: after full-term pregnancy, perform manual correction: centered on the nipple, repeatedly do up and down, left and right pulling movements from inside to outside, so that the nipple protrudes naturally, and then pinch the nipple neck to pull back and forth, so that the nipple bulges, 2 to 3 times a day, 10 to 15 minutes each time. When doing the above treatment, attention should also be paid to cleaning the hands of the massager and the breasts of the pregnant woman being treated, and gentle techniques should be used to avoid nipple infection and injury. Surgical plastic surgery often requires cutting the milk ducts, which affects breastfeeding, so it is not recommended before pregnancy. Wearing nipple inversion correction device, which takes about 6 months, is suitable for patients with mild to moderate nipple inversion. 3.Pregnancy-related breast cancer: It refers to primary breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy or within 1 year after delivery. Pregnancy-related breast cancer is a special type of breast cancer, the most common malignant tumor in pregnancy after cervical cancer, with an incidence rate of 1/10000 to 1/3000 among pregnant women, accounting for about 0.2% to 3.8% of all breast cancers. As with non-pregnancy breast cancer, the cause of pregnancy-related breast cancer is still unclear, but the structural characteristics of the breast during pregnancy make it easier to misdiagnose the disease and delay treatment. Because the breast is more dense during pregnancy, ultrasound examination is more sensitive and should be the first choice in addition to clinical breast examination; for patients with unknown ultrasound diagnosis, mammography can be performed. 4.What are the examination methods for breast examination before pregnancy? Because the breast of young women is more dense, mammography is difficult to detect small lesions; even if the mammography is negative in the appropriate population, the diagnosis of breast cancer cannot be completely ruled out; therefore, in the diagnosis of breast cancer, mammography is necessary but not absolute, and the diagnosis of breast cancer mainly relies on comprehensive examination: (1) Palpation: i.e. the doctor examines by touching with the hand, and the accuracy of palpation by experienced doctors can reach 80%. The accuracy of palpation can reach 80%. (2) Ultrasound examination of the breast: the accuracy rate can also reach 80%. (3) Mammography: the accuracy rate is also 80%. Each of the three methods has its own limitations, so the diagnosis of breast cancer emphasizes comprehensive examination, that is, the three examinations complement each other, so that the diagnosis will not be missed. For women under 40 years old, palpation + mammography is preferred.