I met with a woman yesterday that inquired, “Will I be able to breast feed after my breast augmentation?” 

My answer:   Many women can breast feed after breast augmentation, however, some cannot.  The literature has several studies looking at this and the actual incidence of the problem probably ranges between 10 and 60%.  It is important to consider that there are many factors that come into play in a woman’s ability to breast feed.  Among them are maternal age, the parity status of the mother, birth weight of the child, education, and support of the mother.  Even without breast implants, some women will experience lactation insufficiency.  However, any type of breast surgery has been shown to negatively impact a mother’s ability to breast feed.  In fact, Neifert et al. showed that women who have undergone breast surgery (not just augmentation) are three times more likely to have lactation insufficiency then women who do not.  If the surgery was performed through a periareolar incision, the risk approached five times more likely to experience lactation insufficiency then women who had not had breast surgery.  These findings have been supported by additional work by Strom et al. and more recently by Hurst et al.  where again, a periareolar incision was associated with a greater risk of lactation insufficiency.   It is likely that mothers experienced more difficulty with this incision due to the greater likelihood of sensation loss in the nipple and a reduction in the let down reflex.  In addition, with the periareolar approach, it is likely that a  percentage of the breast ducts are transected during surgery which would reduce the amount of milk reaching the nipple to be expressed.  Overall difficulty following breast augmentation may be due to increased intramammary pressure which may cause loss of the glandular elements responsible for milk production, but this remains to be seen.  To reduce the risk of lactation insufficiency, I counsel my patients that are very serious about breast feeding that they should consider postponing their breast augmentation until after child rearing, or to consider other incisions than the periareolar one to reduce their risk of this problem. 

Our websites www.beauty-surgeon.com and www.drmckane.com have  additional information and before and after photographs of breast augmentation for review.  I invite you to schedule a consultation with me if you would like to learn more about breast augmentation or about breast feeding following breast augmentation.  Please feel free to contact our office at (713) 661-5255 if you have any questions.

-Brice W. McKane, M.D.

© 2009, Dr. McKane. All rights reserved.