I made my project into a video like I did last semester, because I thought it was a unique and simplistic visual aid that everyone can watch and receive the message almost instantly. I hope that this style is okay with everyone; as making movies is actually a passion of mine and I am not very good at hands on crafts and art projects. My project is on the changes that occur during pregnancy, specifically to the breasts of a female’s body as it undergoes the changes necessary to facilitate the growth of life. I made a time-lapse video of myself sketching the breasts before pregnancy and breasts during pregnancy. Many changes take place during pregnancy, and a lot of changes actually take place in the breasts themselves. In my exterior sketch, you can see that the breasts become fuller and this is because the female body begins the production of milk when they start growing a child inside of their uterus. You can also see that purple stretchmarks appear as the breasts grow bigger, and these are due to the stretching of skin as they expand. Another important exterior change Is that the areolas and nipples increase in size and sometimes become darker due to increased blood flow to the breasts. These exterior changes are the ones that we hear about the most because they are the changes that we can actually see when we examine them, but there are also many important changes occurring on the inside as well. An increase in estrogen levels allows extra growth of milk ducts and glandular buds that help to produce the milk that the mother will eventually feed her baby with. Other hormones that play significant roles in milk production are human placental lactogen, luteinizing hormone, and oxytocin. As the breasts swell making room for milk storage, the milk ducts extend and elongate in order to accommodate this change. I really enjoyed learning about all of the changes that occur during pregnancy, as someone that would like to be a mom one day, I was interested in how my body will change throughout my pregnancy. I think that pregnancy is such an interesting topic and the reproductive system was one of my very favorite units from this entire class. I think it is very important to recognize all of the changes that a woman’s body goes through in order to bring life into the world, and I think it makes the whole birth process even more incredible and miraculous. Our bodies work hard to keep us alive and well throughout our entire lives, and when a woman becomes pregnant her body not only takes care of itself, but takes care of another life as well and that is something that I find absolutely amazing. The human body is incredible and I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have been a part of such a great class full of great people these last two semesters! Learning about the human body has been an amazing experience that I will not soon forget! Thanks for a great semester, you guys and have a wonderful summer!
All my best,
Miranda Lally
Citations:
Breast Changes During Pregnancy. (2019, November 8). Retrieved from https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/breast-changes-during-pregnancy/
PATUREL, A., & KOKSHANIAN, R. (2011). the whole 9 months. Fit Pregnancy, 18(1), 90—96.
Stanford Children’s Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=normal-breast-development-and-changes-85-P00151
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