breast feeding after breast reduction

[louieforlaughs]

hello ladies,
i had a breast reduction eight years ago and i am wondering if anyone else has had one and still breast fed. i would love to hear your experiences!!! the first three months of pregnancy my bbs were very sensitive (which was kinda nice to feel actually cause i am not all that sensitive anymore) but a few weeks ago that sensation went away. i am also experiencing some numbness on the sides of my bbs. (which i will bring up at my next doctors appointment) in anycase, i'm still unsure as to if i will be able to breastfeed...even though i would prefer it. just thought it would be nice to hear some of your experiences.
thanks!!

[louieforlaughs]

hey!
thank you guys for your info, makes me a little less confident about things but that is the reality of it isn't it? i went down a lot of sizes. i had to special order my bras back then and the size was ggh and i went down to a c actually. the doctor asked how small i'd like to be and i said as much as they possibly could. i was 16 at the time and breastfeeding wasn't on my mind...standing up straight was though. i think i made the right decision and i have no regrets. i celebrate tiny boobie day/the day of the surgery every year and that day is tomorrow!!!!! so i'm still excited about it really. just hopeful that there might be a tiny chance of doing things naturally. if not thats okay too.
anyway, thanks so much for your opinions guys and your experiences. : )  good luck to you too sarahlarah.

[sarahlarah]

I too had a breast reduction 5 years ago, and am also 3 months pregnant. From what I understand, it just all depends on which procedure was preformed, as in if you had a nipple graft which is when they remove the entire nipple, re-size, reshape and reattach it then no, you will not be able to breastfeed. If that is not the case, then there still is a chance. For instance, depending on how many ducts and passage ways that there were to your nipple to begin with can greatly determine whether or not you will be able to do so. If you had 8-9 plus passage ways and they removed 3-4 during surgery, then your chances are great. But, if you only had 4-5 passage ways then your chances would not be as great because around half of them would have been altered and removed. Also, when a breast reduction is performed sometimes the main nerve below the breast that stimulates your breast to start producing milk upon lactation may have been effected. However, this can change because suckling can actually reactivate that nerve so that milk can be supplied. Either way, your mild supply won't be as much as you would hope, but with the help of a good breast pump, and prescribed medication you should be able to breastfeed pending that you still have good passage ways and did not have a nipple graft. Breast reduction surgeries can be preformed many ways, and I am guessing that you probably have the same "anchor" scar that I do but in order to be certain just which surgery you had, I would get in contact with your surgeon's office and have them pull your file so you can know exactly what they did. Which, I was only 20 when I had my surgery so that information back then was not very useful like it would be now. So, it is a good thing that they keep it at hand! I hope this helps! But, either way you are just not going to know what to expect until it happens. I would just plan on medication and pumping because I really don't think my baby will get enough milk doing it the old fashioned way. Good luck!

[rambopeep]

Hi, how many sizes did you go down? I went from a DD down to a C about 10 years ago, and was told then that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed, because two much was removed and the ducts no longer line up to the nipple. My breasts got really hard after birth and I was surprised when I had a little bit of let down from my right breast, but it was only the size of a quarter and only once. Maybe the procedures are better now, and are less invasive, but I am unable to breastfeed.

[louieforlaughs]

thanks joy,
yeah i am really hopefully that i will. the doctors said at the time that they did their best to preserve everything as i was really young at the time and didn't know if i'd be having children yet or not. i've been reading up on some stuff too and it all sounds really hopeful! hurrays!!! so thank you for your advice. : )

[JoyRenee]

I didn't personally have one. But an old friend of mine had major breast reduction surgery and she breast-fed her daughter. People with breast implants can also breastfeed successfully. It will just be dependent on if they took tissue out underneath the breasts or if they took out any milk ducts, etc.

I say read up on breastfeeding because you just might be able to do it!