Can You Breastfeed With Breast Implants?

Either before your procedure or following breast augmentation, you may question how breast implants affect your life. If you have become pregnant after breast implants or are planning on it, you may wonder if your implants will affect your ability to breastfeed. Find out how breast implants may affect breastfeeding. 

What May Affect Breastfeeding

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are a few main factors that can affect the ability of someone to produce milk or breastfeed. 

Incision 

During a breast augmentation, your surgeon will make an incision to place the implant through. This incision may be to the side of the breast through the armpit, underneath it, or around the areola. Incisions made around the areola may impact breastfeeding, especially if the nipple is completed detached during the surgery. 

Location of Implant 

The implant's placement location may be below or above the muscle. Implants placed below the muscle tend to influence milk production less than those placed above. 

It should be noted that the type of breast implant used does not have any effect on the results of breastfeeding. To know if your milk production may be affected, contact the surgeon who performed your surgery, or if you’re in the Los Altos, CA, area, contact Altos Oaks Plastic Surgery. 

Are Any Effects Permanent? 

Even in the instance where breastfeeding may be affected by breast implants, these effects may not be permanent. Milk ducts that were severed or damaged during injury may grow back or form new pathways. 

In fact, in a meta-analysis study that looked at the current body of scientific literature, researchers found no statistically significant difference between attempted breastfeeding of those with implants and those without. 

Work With Altos Oaks Plastic Surgery in Los Altos, CA

Ensuring the ability to breastfeed following breast implants is contingent on two factors: how the surgery is performed and how your body recovers. To ensure your procedure goes well, make sure you work with a board-certified plastic surgeon. Board-certified surgeons have undergone rigorous education and training in order to demonstrate their proficiency in the field. 

At Altos Oaks Plastic Surgery, all five of our surgeons are board-certified plastic surgeons with years of experience. To start your journey, contact Altos Oaks Plastic Surgery at 650-603-5277.