I am a plastic surgeon. I perform a lot of breast augmentations. I am lucky- most of my patients come to me after they have children and are done with breastfeeding.
Any surgery to the breast will affect the breast. This seems obvious, but it is something I always discuss with patients, particularly if they have not had children yet.
If someone comes to me in their mid 30s and wants to have kids, I will counsel them to wait to have surgery until they are done having kids. Your breasts get larger when you are pregnant and breastfeeding anyway. Your breast changes with pregnancy and breastfeeding–after you are done with kids most women end up smaller in volume, so the size they would choose would change. (Some women do end up larger in breast size after kids, but don’t hold your breath for that one- it isn’t as common.)
So. Back to the title of this blog- if you have a breast augmentation, does it affect your future ability to lactate (ie breastfeed)?
Yes.
A study came out in Breast Journal, Jan-Feb 2007 out of the UK. I have a few issues with the study, particularly one of their opening lines which I think is really untrue, “It does not occur to most women to consider the possible effects of breast augmentation surgery may have on their future ability to exclusively breastfeed their baby.” Maybe it is because I live in the hypereducated Silicon Valley Palo Alto area, but I think all of my patients consider the effect of any breast surgery on their future ability to breastfeed, and it is part of my usual discussion, particularly with regards to incision site.
But back to the study, which I am citing because it did bring out some interesting facts.
- Women who have breast augmentation surgery have a greater lactation insufficiency. NOTE: This does not mean they do not produce milk, but they may not be able to exclusively feed their child by breast milk alone to meet their parameters of weight gain.
- Factors related to surgery include impairment/loss of nerves to the nipple areola complex, which lead to reduced sensation and loss of the suckling reflex resulting in decreased milk production.
- complications in surgery (hematoma, need for additional surgery, capsular contracture, etc) can lead to impairment.
Their conclusion? “With good surgical technique and proper postoperative management, most of the complications associated with surgery that may result in insufficient milk production can be minimized but not always avoided.”
So what does this mean? This study would not change my general advice to women, which is:
- If you are in your early 20s and have a good decade before having kids, in the pros/cons of deciding to do breast surgery, you need to factor in potential decrease in your ability to breastfeed.
- I have had many patients who have successfully breastfed after breast augmentation. This study shows a decreased amount of milk production, and it varied due to multiple factors. Their final statement was that good technique and proper postop management you can minimize the impairment.
- IF YOU ARE WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO OF HAVING A BABY, WAIT. I counsel women to do this all the time. I get that having larger breasts will make your wedding dress fit better, but if your plan is to get married and then start a family right after, wait to do the surgery.
- IF BREASTFEEDING IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE and you would be upset to supplement with formula if needed, WAIT. I know this is controversial in my plastic surgery world where many doctors have become salesmen for procedures, but you have to look at your life big picture when looking at these things.
Remember also, some women can’t breastfeed for whatever reason who have never had breast surgery. There are no guarantees.