It is very common for women to have breast augmentation before conceiving. Women with breast implants shouldn’t worry that breast-feeding will cause sagging, according to a new study. Dr. Leonard Grossman says “Patients with breast implants will notice enlargement of the breasts with the hormonal surge that is normally associated with pregnancy. This increase in volume will resolve once pregnancy and breast feeding is completed. The enlargement of the breasts may be associated with stretch marks if there is rapid weight gain or enlargement of the breast with pregnancy”.
With Dr. Grossman’s technique of T.U.B.A. (Transumbilical Breast Augmentation) which is a scar-less belly button breast augmentation, is a procedure used to increase the breast size by introduction of breast implants through the umbilicus (navel or the belly button) and then inflating the implants to a requested size. In the hands of a New York Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Leonard Grossman, this surgery has proven to be only beneficial, with fewer complications over the traditional methods of breast augmentation by being safer, faster (average time of 20 minutes) and less invasive procedure creating larger breasts without the visible scars on the breasts or in the armpit. As long as Dr. Grossman has been performing TUBA (since 1996), Dr. Grossman’s patients have had kids, breastfed and some did not, but most never had changes in their breasts that required revision surgery.
Many women worry that breast-feeding could change the appearance of their breasts, “particularly after they invested in a breast augmentation,” said Dr. Grossman. This is highly untrue, especially if the implants are placed under the muscle of the chest wall the way I do.
The study of nearly 120 mothers with breast implants found that breast-feeding was not a significant risk factor for breast sagging. “Women are free to breast-feed without the concern of affecting the appearance of their breast augmentation,” the study concluded. Since nursing is beneficial for mother’s and child’s overall health, it’s important to convey this message to new mothers.
The results of the new study were scheduled for presentation at the meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Dr. Grossman said “breast implants do not interfere with a women’s ability to breast-feed. The implants are placed under the pectoral’s muscle when I perform the surgery, even though many surgeons still place implants over the muscle”, he said.
“There is no disruption of the breast gland or the milk ducts in either instance, especially with TUBA” Grossman said.
The most common cause of sagging breasts are breast changes after pregnancy. “These changes are related to the diminished production of the hormones that enlarge the breasts during the pregnancy,” he said.
During pregnancy, breast tissue is engorged and expanded. After childbirth, the levels of these hormones are vastly reduced and the breasts deflate, resulting in some sagging, Grossman said.
For the mentioned study, changes in breast measurements of 57 women with implants who breast-fed for more than six months were compared with 62 similar women who didn’t breast-feed. Measurements were taken before pregnancy and one year after pregnancy or one year after completing breast-feeding. No significant changes where found in these measurements or in sagging between women who did or didn’t breast-feed.
“This study should be comforting to women with implants who decide to breast-feed, and they should rest assured that their risk of postpartum sagging breasts is not significantly different than the degree of breast sagging in breast-augmented women who do not elect to breast-feed”.
To schedule your consultation with Dr. Leonard Grossman call (212) 585-2133
