Some women believe that breastfeeding will ‘ruin’ their breasts and make them saggier faster.
A new study showed there was no difference in the degree of breast ptosis (or sagging) between women who breast-fed and those who didn’t.
University of Kentucky plastic surgeon Brian Rinker and his colleagues interviewed 132 women who came in for breast lifts or augmentation between 1998 and 2006. On average, the women were 39 years old, and 93 percent had experienced at least one pregnancy. Among the mothers, 58 percent had breast-fed at least one of their children. The average duration of breast-feeding was nine months.
The researchers evaluated the womens’ medical history, body mass index (BMI), pre-pregnancy bra cup size and smoking status.
The main factors that did affect sagging were age, smoking status and the number of pregnancies a woman has had.
Rinker noted that the smoking connection made sense because “smoking breaks down a protein in the skin called elastin, which gives youthful skin its elastic appearance and supports the breast.”
Mr Rinker hopes that his findings will ”alleviate the fears of new mothers over what nursing their child might do to their breasts in the long run and will encourage them to breast-feed because of the health benefits to their infant.”
“Women may be reluctant to breast-feed because of this unfounded myth that doing so means the end of youthful breasts,” he continued. “Now, expectant mothers can relax knowing breast-feeding does not sacrifice the appearance of their breasts.”
