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Home › Articles › Breastfeeding › For Better or Worse

For Better or Worse

The Effects of Cosmetic Breast Surgery on Breastfeeding

By Carma Haley

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For some it's cosmetic, for others, self-expression. Whatever the reason, women often make changes to their bodies and personal appearances. These changes could be as simple as becoming the blonde they have always wanted to be, or as complicated as enhancing the shape Mother Nature gave them.

According to the Board of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, elective breast procedures are now as common as tooth extractions. Although they are growing more popular, the impact of these procedures on future health, well-being and family are often not understood by the women who are having them.

Cosmetic surgery to the breast includes reductions, augmentations, lifts, symmetries (to make uneven breasts the same size and shape) and inverted nipple corrections. All of these procedures include manipulation of the breast tissue and may have possible implications on the ability to breastfeed. The impact on breastfeeding varies depending on the procedure.

"Women who are not able to breastfeed after a breast procedure are the exception rather than the rule," says Dr. Woody Baxt, a New Jersey plastic and reconstructive surgeon. "Depending upon what procedure is being done, a woman may find that her ability to breastfeed is not affected in any way."

Breast Augmentation
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the most common elective breast procedure is breast augmentation. Breast augmentation is the procedure in which an implant is inserted into the breast to produce a larger breast size. The procedure is done under a general anesthesia in a clinic or hospital setting. The implant is inserted through a small incision in the lower crease area of the breast, under the nipple or in the armpit. The adipose, or fatty layer, and muscle wall is loosened away from the chest and the implant is placed inside.

Depending on the incision, an attempt to preserve breastfeeding can be successful. As is the case with a sub-mammary breast augmentation. In this procedure, the incision is placed at or near the lower breast fold. "Assuming there is no complication from surgery, there should be no interference with breastfeeding," says Dr. Keith Brandt, associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.


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