Can I breast feed after having Breast Augmentation (implants or a lift)?
For many women who have breast surgery, the question at some time arises; ‘Will I still be able to breast feed my baby and have enough milk?’
The answer to this question is probably yes.
After surgery, many women still have normal sensation in their breasts, and have no problems producing a normal amount of milk after having a baby, others may have only partial milk production, due to severed milk ducts and nerves, but are still able to successfully feed their baby with perhaps, some supplementing with formula.
For those women who have had surgeries that cut through the nerves and mammory glands, it is comforting to know that our bodies can regenerate some of the connections between milk ducts and glands over time, and the hormones from pregnancy actually help to speed up this process. The longer the time between surgery and breast feeding, the better the chances of good connections (of nerves ) and good milk production.
So what are some factors that influence how much milk a woman can produce after surgery?
The Placement of the Implant and Incision
Implants placed under the muscle (or unders) generally interfere less with the mammory glands and result in better outcomes for breast feeding mothers.
If the implant was inserted through the breast fold or armpit, it is less likely that your surgeon severed the connecting milk ducts and glands. Areola (nipple) incisions, breast reductions and lifts can have more impact on the connecting tissues, resulting in more severed nerves and glands.
Sensation
In the first weeks after surgery, you may lose some feeling in your breasts and nipples. Some of the smaller nerves and blood vessels can re-establish themselves over time. For most women, normal feeling returns in the first 6 -12 months of recovery. For others, feeling may only return partially or be hyper sensitive.
If your nipples have feeling in them, it is a very good sign that there is no damage to the milk ducts and glands needed for feeding, and the channeling of milk out of the breast. In some women, there are areas of numbness, such as the under side of the breast after a BA (breast augmentation). This may mean that there are partially damaged nerves, and that you will produce milk from the other areas of the breast instead.
So if you have normal feeling in your breasts, take it as a good sign for success!
Previous Breast Deformities
If you had surgery initially to fix a medical problem such as tubular breasts, or under developed breasts, you may find that you will still have difficulty breast feeding, just as you may have before the surgery. Having very small breasts pre-surgery does not mean that you will have problems, as many small breasts have excellent milk production, (in fact, a dairy farmer once pointed out to me that his best milk producing cows were the ones with the smallest udders!)
but there are medical conditions that can impact a breast’s milk production, so it is worth being aware of this. Inverted nipples can be make feeding more diff
Previous Experience
Until a woman has tried to breast feed, there are few ways to know what her chances of success will be. If you have BF before, successfully, and provided you have good feeling in your nipples, your chances are good that you will have few problems this time around.
Some women don’t have full milk production, others do. So how can you increase your milk supply to ensure the best chances of success?
One of THE most important things to do if you have implants, is to make sure the first 2 weeks of breast feeding count. Those first two weeks are critical in establishing your milk supply for the coming months, especially if you have only partially functioning milk ducts and nerves.
For this reason, you need to be prepared to do a little extra work than the average mother. You may want to research your hospital’s policy on renting out hospital grade electric breast pumps. It’s important that you use a hospital grade pump, not just a ‘short term use’ pump that they sell at the pharmacy. The hospital grade ones will pump your breasts more completely and be less damaging to the sensitive nipples, than the cheaper ones (which can produce cracked nipples if used daily). You may not need to use a pump, because ideally your baby will be all the equipment you need, but if you DO find yourself worried about your milk supply, it is worth knowing how to get hold of one at short notice.
In the first 2-3 weeks, you want to remove as much milk as possible, to establish a strong demand for milk. The more you feed your baby, the more milk your body will produce in the long run. After the first couple weeks, your body will start to work out how much milk it needs, and if the demand has been low, will not produce a lot more milk than was required in that initial week. It is about establishing hormone receptors in the breast, not necessarily about volume, so if you are not actually producing a lot of volume, don’t be too concerned, just keep feeding and pumping, often. Breast feeding your baby is the best option, but if you have a baby with a weak sucking or latching ability, a hospital grade pump is a great way to boost your supply.
Try demand feeding; Feed your baby as often as he/she wants, and try not to go long stretches without feeding in the first few weeks. It might be a point of pride for some women to be able to say that their baby sleeps constantly or through the night in the first few weeks, but for a woman who is trying to establish a great milk supply, it’s not a good idea to go too long. If your baby is sleeping for very long stretches in the first week or two, and seems to be too tired to feed, it is more likely to be a problem with jaundice than a sign of a well mannered baby!
If you have severed milk ducts, some ducts may produce milk initially, but when the milk has no channel to let the milk out, those milk glands will atrophy, and stop producing after the first couple weeks. You may experience some engorgement as a result. After these severed glands have stopped producing milk, your milk production will depend on the intact milk ducts to produce the rest of the supply, this is why it is important to create a strong demand on them in the initial week.
The nerves that determine your nipple sensitivity also allow the ‘let down reflex’ that allows the milk to flow out when your baby starts to feed. If one nipple has better sensitivity than the other, you may want to try feeding from the better nipple initially to start the let down in both nipples, before switching over to the problem side for the feed.
Water= Milk
When you feed, drink a glass of water or milk to replace the lost fluid. Women that drink a lot of water, and eat enough food will be able to produce more milk than a dehydrated mother. Think ‘Water is Milk, Water is Milk’ and you’ll set yourself up for a much better milk supply.
So How Do You Know If You Baby is Getting Enough?
For some women, there will be no problems, and for others there will be reason to worry about how much milk you are producing. The best way to gage whether your baby is getting enough milk, is to record the amount of wet nappies being produced. When you are in hospital, the nurses will be recording these kinds of fun details, as well as weighing your baby on discharge. Once you are home , it’s a good idea to keep a chart of wet/ dirty nappies. If you are having trouble figuring out whether those huggies nappies are wet or just squishy you might also want to weigh your baby. Try to use the same set of scales each time, and preferably ones that aren’t moved every time you do it. Moving them can change the accuracy, and different scales might vary slightly.
If you are concerned that your baby is not getting enough after the first few days, it is possible to supplement feed and still breast feed. Before you leave the hospital, if you are concerned, ask for a referral to see a lactation consultant. They can help you decide whether you are producing enough or whether it is better to start supplementing with formula.
If you do decide to supplement feed in the first few days, try to keep expressing your milk as often as possible, so that your supply doesn’t drop off in the first fortnight and you can continue to feed your baby some of the time.
Even if you can’t breast feed exclusively, feeding your baby the wonderfully rich colostrum in the first few days, and then as much milk as you can produce in the coming months will be a huge benefit to your baby, well worth the extra effort!
For most women, who have had straight forward breast augmentations, breast feeding will probably not be much different than it would have been without surgery, but for the women who have had reductions, lifts and nipple surgery, it can be done, just with a little more effort and patience.
So how much milk will I produce.
There is no way to know how much milk you will be able to produce and express until your milk comes in around the fourth day after birth. The amount of milk you will have then will be dependent on the number of connected ducts and state of the nerves that affect lactation.
The glands connected to the ducts that were severed during the surgery will produce milk initially, but because the milk cannot get out, they will gradually stop making milk and will atrophy over the first two weeks. You will probably experience the some engorgement as a result, in addition to the normal fullness when the milk comes in around the fourth day.
After the engorgement stage is over and the glands have atrophied, your milk production will be dependent on the glands connected to the intact ducts. If they cannot produce enough milk initially, there is much that can be done to produce more.
But what will my implants look like after breastfeeding?
Many women find that their breasts look better after breastfeeding than they did before surgery because they still have the fullness that the implant provides, but they look more natural than they did straight after surgery.
If you have had any experience with breast feeding after having implants or a lift/ reduction we would love to hear your comments and feedback.
