Breastfeeding and Breast Sagging

Does breastfeeding contribute to breast sagging and other changes in size and shape?

During pregnancy your body goes through tremendous changes. You may also worry about your body afterwards when it comes to the important decision on breast feeding.

How will breast-feeding affect the appearance of my breasts? Does nursing cause sagging? What about nursing with breast implants? These are common questions new moms ask about how breastfeeding may change their body.

Women who have had breast augmentation surgery are especially concerned according to researchers who conducted a new study on breast-feeding effects. They evaluated 119 moms who had breast implants 57 who nursed and 62 who did not. Each underwent a series of breast measurements before pregnancy and then again one-year after birth or one-year after breast-feeding ended.

Changes in breast measurements and the degree of sagging were not significantly different in women who breastfed and those who did not. And while overall, the severity of sagging did increase, it was attributed to changes that occurred during pregnancy only.

The researchers say a similar study in women without breast implants also found breastfeeding is not a risk factor for breast sagging.