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Nursing not the cause of saggy breasts
Filed under: Your Pregnancy, In The News
Breastfeeding does a lot of things to a woman's body. It stimulates contractions that cause the uterus shrink back to original size, burns up to 500 calories a day, and might even protect against cancers but there's one thing a study says nursing does not do: cause breasts to sag.
Women coming in for augmentations or breast lift to correct sagging blamed on breastfeeding were the inspiration University of Kentucky plastic surgeon Brian Rinker's research project to look for a connection between nursing and breast droopage.
In interviews of 132 women over an eight year period, Rinker's study showed no difference in sagging between breastfeeding women and those who did not. The main factors that affected the breasts in his small sample were age, smoking status and the number of pregnancies a woman has had.
Rinker hopes his findings might ease worries mothers may have that nursing might on the appearance of their breasts and encourage more to breast-feed for the numerous health benefits for both infant and mother.
So if you had plans to use the "I-sacrificed-my-breasts-so-you'd-be-able-to-get-into-graduate-school" approach to guilt your children, you might have to just stick with how much pain you were in during their birth.
Your breasts were headed South no matter what.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-04-2007 @ 4:45PM
Judy said...What I've always suspected. My first, who was born when I was 17, was not breastfed. My two sons were (are). My breasts changed after the birth of my daughter, and I can't say there's a huge difference in their appearance after two more kids and breastfeeding now for over 3 1/2 years.
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11-04-2007 @ 4:57PM
Crystal said...I've always maintained a theory that its engorgement that causes breasts to sag. And more so for woman who chose not to breastfeed. You hear these woman talk about the swelling, and their breast being huge and rock hard those first few postpardum weeks. That has to stretch out the skin, I would think.
If a breastfeeding mom keeps on feedings, engorgement isnt really an issue, therefore decreasing the risk of stretching and sagging. Seems to make sense.
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11-04-2007 @ 6:36PM
aprilw said...I've read this in the past at several breastfeeding sights, good to see a proper scientific study can be quoted now!
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11-05-2007 @ 9:18AM
Amanda said...I agree. I had a feeling that breastfeeding didn't cause sagginess. I did not breast feed my first child and my breasts were just as saggy then as they are now after baby #2 and 8 months of breastfeeding.
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11-05-2007 @ 10:05AM
Pavlina said...True that. I was 33 when my son was born and my breasts were already headed south!
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11-05-2007 @ 5:40PM
Heather said...I would have to say that I disagree with this theory, in some aspects. Personally, after I breastfed both of my kids I noticed that mine were noticably bigger, however there is less firmness, and so they sag. I don't see how if the skin is streatched and the tissue underneath stays the same, basically, how they won't sag. I noticed my breasts getting a lot bigger just in pregnancy, none the less while breastfeeding. Maybe they need to do a study on that, how much they sag in accordance to how much bigger they got without breastfeeding.
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12-26-2007 @ 7:52AM
Devynn said...not only does the pregancy weight gain contribute some, but breastfeeding DOES TOO make your boobs sag! think about it: the milk ducts engorge and then de-engorge with every feeding. this causes muscles and skin to stretch out and shrink back in. you keep it up for TWO YEARS like WHO wants you, too, and you better schedule your boob job right after you get done potty trainning the lil bastard(s). if you can't afford that, get thy self to a good bra maker, but remember, they WON'T be like they were before EVER again! not saying you SHOULDN'T breastfeed, but it's something to keep in mind. women have enough body issues with pregancy. if we were less in denial about it, the better off we'd be. :p
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