breast

The human breast or mammary gland. Milk produced in the tissue of the breast to feed a baby after a woman has given birth passes along ducts which lead to openings in the nipple.

One of a pair of organs on the chest of the adult human female, also known as a mammary gland. Each of the two breasts contains milk-producing cells and a network of tubes or ducts that lead to openings in the nipple.

Milk-producing cells in the breast do not become active until a woman has given birth to a baby. Breast milk is made from substances extracted from the mother's blood as it passes through the breasts, and contains all the nourishment a baby needs. Breast-fed newborns develop fewer infections than bottle-fed babies because of the antibodies and white blood cells contained in breast milk. These are particularly abundant in the colostrum produced in the first few days of breast-feeding.