hugging rock inkster
10:16 am - 04/16/2012

breast changes after baby
I've been curious about this and don't know who I can ask since not everyone is as open about stuff like this as I am.

I'm curious whether those who do not breastfeed after having a baby end up with the same changes in their breasts as those who do. I'm talking about them feeling super empty and being more floppy than they were before, as well as some sagging (I know that varies between people and can happen without breastfeeding as well). I guess I'm curious if it's the changes that happen during pregnancy and the initial engorgement before the milk goes away that causes them, or if it's the constant filling and emptying of breastfeeding that does. If it's the former, and your milk never comes in, are they the same as they were before being pregnant?

(this is not intended to be a discussion on the merits of either method of feeding, I'm just curious on a purely physical standpoint)
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archangelbeth 16th-Apr-2012 02:26 pm (UTC)
I really don't know. I have some amount of de-perking of my breasts, which went from B-cups to C-cups during nursing, but despite nursing for over 3 years (at the last, really only when nursing her down to naps)... I dunno. They aren't ultra-saggy. I suspect that whichever starts the process, the ultimate "sag" is going to be partly based on genetics.
sxdx 16th-Apr-2012 02:41 pm (UTC)
Breastfeeding does not cause those issues, pregnancy does.
niki28 16th-Apr-2012 02:46 pm (UTC)
I have fairly saggy breasts and breastfed both of my sons and plan on breastfeeding my daughter when she gets here. My mother also had breasts quite similar to mine regrding sagginess. She nver breastfed. I think it is largely related to gennetics and pregnancy.
makale_83 16th-Apr-2012 02:58 pm (UTC)
I breast fed my daughter for 26 months, and I definitely have noticeable (in my opinion) changes. My boobs are not as full anymore, and although they were never REALLY perky.. they're probably a little more saggy than what they were. I am curious about the results to this poll as well!
kalypso_speaks 16th-Apr-2012 03:22 pm (UTC)
I breastfed my son for a year and a half. My breasts are just as perky as they were before I got pregnant, and actually went up about a half-size permanently (from a B to what I call a B+). I lost all my baby weight, so the size change is not a result of weight gain.

This might sound odd, but my mother just had a masectomy, and when I was at the hospital with her for one of her appointments, I ended up seeing her breasts and it would seem I have exceptionally good genetics, perk-wise. She breast fed both my brother and I, for over a year each. I think sagging or lack thereof has MUCH more to do with your genes.
mewsicfreak 17th-Apr-2012 02:32 am (UTC)
lol this comment made me smile :-P
dkwgdk 16th-Apr-2012 03:47 pm (UTC)
Sorry that I don't have any insight to this but wanted to thank others who posted...the 'genetics' option interests me a lot. I recently learned that something similar is true of varicose veins and cellulite!
niki28 16th-Apr-2012 04:00 pm (UTC)
stretch marks too!
mangofandango 16th-Apr-2012 05:17 pm (UTC)
I have always been told by people who know a lot about these things that pregnancy and genetics determine most of what happens to your breasts, not so much the breastfeeding. I have no evidence of that other than that I trust these people as lactation experts, but yeah.

I have no anecdata towards the not-breastfeeding side, as I am still nursing my nearly 3 year old daughter (there are changes in my case though, yes. :))
sans_patrie 16th-Apr-2012 05:56 pm (UTC)
Though I don't have time to search for a citation for this, I have been told by numerous people including an IBCLC and LLL leaders that it is the physiological/hormonal changes of pregnancy that cause a change in your breasts, not breastfeeding. And that obviously genetics will also play a part.
sans_patrie 16th-Apr-2012 05:59 pm (UTC)
Oh, and I would add that although my breasts feel emptier and less perky now that I am nursing less, the changes that made them that way (aka the fact that they grew significantly, meaning the skin stretched!) all happened a) in the first 12 weeks of my first pregnancy and b) in the first few weeks post-partum when milk comes in and your supply is regulating. Both of which are pretty unavoidable even if a person chooses not to, or is unable to breastfeed.
sonarafaey 16th-Apr-2012 10:03 pm (UTC)
I had a baby 9 months ago, and he is not breastfed (not by choice, tried to breastfeed but we had a lot of trouble and I did not have the support or resources to get a lot of the help we needed). My bra cup size is the same as it was pre-pregnancy, but my breasts are now very saggy, soft and empty feeling. Like others have said, I think breast changes have more to do with genetics and pregnancy itself, and not necessarily do to breastfeeding (or lack of it).
hungry_worm 18th-Apr-2012 01:43 pm (UTC)
Hah! Finally histology class pays off! I think the change of texture comes from the actual changes of structure in the breast. When you look at the cells under the microscope, during pregnancy an under the accompanying hormonal influence, the breast's (Mamma) milk ducts proliferate, and the whole duct system is "fine tuned" and modified (i.e. tubular ends getting larger to make the whole milk storage etc. possible). So even if you don't bf long or at all, it doesn't get completely re-structured, and while the changes receed, there's still different tissue left compared to a "virginal", uninitiated mamma.

I wasn't that good in histology, so I don't know the details, but I'm sure interested people can get much more details through google.

Edited at 2012-04-18 01:45 pm (UTC)
chipie 16th-Apr-2012 11:57 pm (UTC)
Thank you for asking that question! I've been curious about this very same issue.

The answers are both encouraging and discouraging: discouraging in that it seems that, judging by my Mom's breasts, I am doomed to have saggy breasts no matter what. But encouraging because it means that fear of saggy breasts should not discourage me from breastfeeding...!
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