Breastfeeding with Implants

One of my best friends is breastfeeding her 4 month old daughter and has implants. She says all is fine....and just that her boobs are HUGE!!! and hanging a bit more than before but other wise they are unchanged so far. Good luck to you!!!

I don't know, but I do know that I trust & use www.kellymom.com a lot.

Here is what I found for you :-)

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/breast-surgery.html

Hi,

First off it's not selfish if you don't want to breast feed. I had my implants done in 99, and had my 1st child in 2001. I tried to breast feed him but I had trouble with him geting anything out of my left breast. So I stopped within a few days. It was not due to the implant but my nipple . But of course my breast got engorged & they were very sore like everyone else's is when trying to breast feed due to the stimulation. So my Dr recommended using a ace bandage & take tylenol for pain. Also to not have the warm water from the shower hit them because it would only stimulate them.
I just had my 2nd child 7 weeks ago & I opted not to breast feed . My breast got very big , but I just wore a tight sports bra& some pads for the leakage . But as long as my breast were held firmly I was not in pain.

So don't worry & what ever decission you make will be fine.

Good Luck !

L.

E.,

I got implants 7 years ago and I tried to nurse with my second child and there was nothing happened. Although I wasn't able to nurse it would not have been a problem. If you are wanting to nurse by all means you can nurse there is nothing wrong with that and I had no discomfort with my implants. I can tell you that you definitely need to wear a very supportive bra, I got very large and I have lost some weight from the babies I have had two since the implants. I did not wear very supportive bras during or after my pregnancies, I would just recommend that you do that and you should be fine.

Hope this helps to ease some of your worries.

Good luck.

S.
SAHM of 3 boys 13, 5 and almost 3

I too have breast implants and was told by my Pediatrician and my Plastic surgeon, that as long as they are under the muscle they should not effect milk production. I choose not the breast feed due to the fact that skin stretches and I knew that after breastfeeding for even 6 weeks your breast will change, even with the implants. It is a personal decision.

Hi E.. I have implants myself and breastfed my 1 yr old for 3 months! They look as awesome as before too. I didn't breastfed longer because he never learned to suck properly, as per the breastfeeding experts at Mercy Hospital, and therefore productionwas small. I left the hospital already giving him formula and breast so he got used to the easiness of sucking the bottle. I also pumped but it wasn't enough stimulation for milk production. Hope this helps! Good luck.
C.

Hi E.,

Yes it's "perfectly" safe.. I have implants and nursed my son for a couple months and NOTHING happened... Doctors will tell you the same...
CONGRATS!!!

PS As for Alice's comment, that was COMPLETELY rude, offensive and uncalled for. People with those negative opinions don't need to be on this site!!!!!!!!

Hi E.,

Just like you, I too was concerned when I got pregnant a year after getting implants. My baby is now 3 mths 1 week old and the worst thing that happened to me was stretch marks! Yup I got some really dark stretch marks on my breasts early on during my pregnancy (but that maybe cause the implants stretched me pretty much as far as I could go). I had a very small chest prior and the implants took me up to a 34B cup.

Now post having my daughter the stretch marks have gone much lighter and who knows they might disappear. I breastfed her for almost 3 months and eventually quit due to latching problems, I also pumped a lot. I am almost there where the milk has dried up and I am very impressed with the implants. They have held up very well! My cup size went up to a 36C when the milk came in and I think I am pretty much back to my normal size now. No sagging nothing like that so I don't think you need to be too concerned.

When I got my implants, I was told by the plastic surgeon that I should not breastfeed. I think he did not want me to take a chance of messing up his great work! It was 7 years later that my first child was born, and after discussing it with my midwife, I decided to give it a try. I was told that it may, or may not work since my implants were under the muscle. I successfully nursed my first baby for 21 months. I weaned her 2 1/2 months before my second baby was due so that she would not feel that I had taken something away from her to give to the new baby. I breasfed my second baby for 24 months, again stopping just before the birth of my third. I breasfed my third and last child until he was four years old, which is something I never thought I would do, or even want to do! I never felt any discomfort from the implants, (only from the teeth!) And that was a whole different story! Anyway, I believe the breastfeeding was a great thing for both me and my children! I feel like I gave them each a good start with nutrition, and saved a whole lot of money in the process. I did feel a very special bond with each of them, and would not change that at all!

At the time I got my implants, no one informed me that I would need to have them replaced about every 10 years or so! I knew that I was getting the saline type that was much safer than silicone, but I did not realize that they would ever have to be replaced. With my financial situation as it is, I decided to see how long they would last. My implants are probably around 18 years old now, and I have been rougher on them than the average woman is! Unfortunately, one of them did spring a leak about a year ago, and is completely deflated now. It was not painful at all, and I did not even realize it had happened until I had lost all the baby weight, and went to buy a new, smaller bra. I am much older than you are, and was much older when I got the implants. Time and gravity can do really nasty things to a woman's body, but I would not change any of the nursing! I would say that if you would like to try the nursing, I would definitely not let the implants stand in your way! It is a very rewarding experience, and I am so glad I was able to nurse all of my children! I am saving up for some new implants, but at my age, I will need a lift as well! (And a tummy tuck from the 3 C-Sections!) Good luck with your new arrival and with whatever decision you make on the breastfeeding, and just keep wearing a good bra either way to fight off the gravity!

Here are some articles about breastfeeding with implants. I'm told by a friend with implants that you should be more concerned about the risks to your baby depending on the type of implant that you have rather than what might happen to the implants themselves. She says it's more uncomfortable with implants and she did not produce enough milk. Always let your doc and the ped know that you have implants.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_breastfeeding-after-breast-au...

http://www.breastimplants4you.com/breast_feeding_complica...
http://www.webplastics.com/breast10.htm

http://www.center4research.org/implantso.html

Do a google search on the subject for lots of information.

HI E.,
You can breastfeed with implants! The implants do not get in the way of the milk ducts....I breast fed my daughter with my implants, no more pain than the normal you get when they latch on! I do however have to say that holding them against you is somewhat uncomfortable...especially as they get older & heavier, their head leaning on you does hurt sometimes.

I have a friend who did this. You may need help to do it and need to arm yourself with information! Please, call La Leche League! If you're in the Ft. Lauderdale area, they have a leader who knows allll about this, iykwm! The number there is ###-###-####. They will call you back!

I breastfed for 7 months with no problem. It didnt hurt me at all. It didnt damage the implants at all. The breast do not stay as "perfect" as they were before, but that could be just from pregnacy alone. I definetely reccomend breast feeding as long as you can.