Time and again, health experts remind mothers that ‘breast milk is best for baby.’ And it can’t be disputed. However, even though you want the best for your babies, it is understandable for you to ask what happens to your breasts after breastfeeding. Do you really have to suffer saggy breasts for the rest of your life, when formula milk provides all the nutritional needs that your babies need? This question may sound really shallow and selfish to some, but it is perfectly valid. After all, your babies will grow up, become adults, and will finally leave the nest, while your breasts will be with you forever. They are part and parcel of your identity.
Sagging breasts is one of the major worries mothers have about breastfeeding and a reason for some to skip breastfeeding altogether. In a previous interview with the Wall Street Journal, plastic surgeon and Director of the University of Kentucky Hand Service, Brian D Rinker, said that women often came to his clinic to ‘have the effects of breastfeeding on their breasts fixed.’ However, this is a myth with no scientific proof.
In fact, when Rinker and his colleague reviewed the files of all the women who came to the University of Kentucky for a breast lift between 1996 and 2006, they found 93 women who had children before the procedure, and 54 of them breastfed one or more babies. After reviewing the photos of these women before they had their surgery and, using a standardized method, measuring the sagging of their breast, they found that there was no difference in the degree of sagging between the women who breastfed and those who didn’t.
Of course, the study was limited in size and only looked at women who decided to have breast lift. But it’s more scientific that the common belief. And considering my personal experience, I am more inclined to believe the finding. Yes, since the birth of my children, my breasts have undergone a literally big change. Before I gave birth to my first born, I already considered myself well-endowed at cup C. Today, I’m a between E and EE. I breastfed both kids, the first up to seven months and the other up to nine months, but, although they are much bigger now, my breasts haven’t sagged.
So, if the thought of saggy breast is the only thing that stops you from breastfeeding, you can tick it off your list.
