Breast Reduction

i had a breast reduction and nipple graftalmost 2yrs ago. My dr. told me that I wouldn't get any sensation back or be able to breast feed. A year after my surgery I began to my sensation back and experience sharp shooting pains in my breast. As of todayI have no complaints and neither does my BOO but my concerns is will I be able to breast feed?

best person to ask is a lactation person. They are usaully really helpful and they can tell you what they think. They also, can give you suggestions for things to try. I have heard that alot of breast surgeries dont effect your breastfeeding abilities. Call thehospital where you are planning to deliver, and get her number. Im sure theyd be happy to answer your questions, esp if you are wanting to breastfed! good luck!

Quoting jacey*lyn:“ best person to ask is a lactation person. They are usaully really helpful and they can tell you what ... [snip!] ... deliver, and get her number. Im sure theyd be happy to answer your questions, esp if you are wanting to breastfed! good luck!”

Thanks, this is our first and I want everything to be perfect, well you know the best experience for both myself and child. Thanks again!

Quoting e~lah*nah:“ i had a breast reduction and nipple graftalmost 2yrs ago. My dr. told me that I wouldn't get any sensation ... [snip!] ... pains in my breast. As of todayI have no complaints and neither does my BOO but my concerns is will I be able to breast feed?”

Not exclusively.

I had a partial breast reduction on my right side 8 years ago. I could only get an ounce at best from the right breast at each pumping. I believe this also hindered my left breast's production b/c it was like my body got signals that it was dry and wet at the same time. My left side only made 4-5 ounces at best per pump but more of 2-3 ounces on average. We had to supplement with formula from week 2 or the baby would've "failed to thrive" or worse.

Quoting jacey*lyn:“ best person to ask is a lactation person. They are usaully really helpful and they can tell you what ... [snip!] ... deliver, and get her number. Im sure theyd be happy to answer your questions, esp if you are wanting to breastfed! good luck!”

Well...not from what I've heard or from my personal experience. As my ob doc said it's not been until very recently that the medical world has known exactly how the breast works in regards to milk duct, sacs, etc. Older surgeries such as mine virtually guarantee an inability to breastfeed. My breast reduction was the anchor incision which does not remove the areola, but nonetheless my milk supply was severely compromised from the surgery.

Quoting CatLuvr83:“ Not exclusively. I had a partial breast reduction on my right side 8 years ago. I could only get ... [snip!] ... more of 2-3 ounces on average. We had to supplement with formula from week 2 or the baby would've "failed to thrive" or worse.”

How soon after you surgery did you have your baby? Did you work with a lactation specialist? Any suggestions?

Quoting e~lah*nah:“ How soon after you surgery did you have your baby? Did you work with a lactation specialist? Any suggestions?”

I had Darwin 8 years after the surgery. And yes I did work with an LC. She agreed that the breast I had surgery on would not produce enough milk even with "tricks" like Fenugreek or Reglan.

My personal theory is that my left side (which never had surgery) was unable to produce enough milk on its own because my body was detecting one dry breast (no milk) and one wet breast (w/ milk) so it was getting confused.

What we wound up doing was pumping exclusively for 6 weeks. The baby was 6 weeks early so we wanted him to have some breastmilk until his due date at least. We were only able to give him one ounce of breastmilk per feeding and supplemented with formula for the rest of the feeding. So he started out with one ounce breastmilk and one ounce formula. Then moved up to one ounce breastmilk and two ounces formula, etc. Now we're doing only formula.

Perhaps it was merely a coincidence, but I think Reglan (a med to potentially help increase milk supply) was one factor in my getting PPD (post partum depression), so I recommend NOT taking Reglan. Fenugreek is fine, but I'm not sure how much it helped my situation.

Thanks, very interesting and good info. I hoping that everything works out fine.