Dr. Robert Whitfield explains that breast implants placed behind tissue or muscle don't prevent breastfeeding. If you could nurse before implants, you should be able to after. Timing surgery around childbearing is optional, not necessary.
Well, if you get breast implants, can you still nurse?
That's a pretty common question, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. There's no real interference between a breast implant and the breast tissue because it's either behind the breast or behind the breast and the muscle. So if you could nurse before, you should be able to nurse after breast augmentation. Should they wait or should they go ahead and have that breast implant, worry about nursing later?
They should probably worry about nursing later. At that age, there's no reason to wait. They can have their procedure and then afterwards, after they've had their children, then they can come see a board certified plastic surgeon and get an opinion about what they do need.
Rob, I agree completely. I just like for patients to know and understand that scarring both externally, internally is part of the operation. It's part of my informed consent process. Fortunately, it happens very, very, very infrequently. But it is something that the patients need to be aware of and many patients, most of the patients go on to successful nursing without any problems, no matter what age they have their implants put in.
