Breastfeeding After A Breast Reduction Surgery: My Success Story

Jun 26, 2018 9:55 AM

Is breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery possible?

My breasts had been a troubled subject for some time, in many ways I’m sure others will relate but equally, a bit of backstory is required and may give anyone else the reassurance I have to offer.

I never thought that breastfeeding after a breast reduction would be a possibility. Long-legged in my running shorts, with my completely undeveloped body, complete with a ‘boyish’ (as I was repeatedly informed) haircut, I envied the more developed girls of high school.

They got the attention. They could wear the fashion (although I realize now how in the late 90s/00s fashion was a rather questionable term- the two-strand gelled fringe…need I say more?!) and there I was in my baggy sports gear and braces.

But as karma or some dramatic hocus pocus would have it, the year I turned 15, I went from cotton crop top wearing flatness to bolder holding underwired DD cups.

My hair grew, my clothing marginally feminized, and some male heads occasionally turned. Add on another 6 months and I was an FF cup, my weight generally hadn’t altered and I was still trying …(underneath the 2 sports bras I relied upon) to run and compete in athletics competitions.

My school leavers book was a consensus of ‘good luck Flipping Fantastic’, and ‘see you soon FF’. It had already gone too far.

My breasts were already larger than my mum's by several cup sizes and my grandmothers both had petite frames and chests to match. I’m eating healthily (for a teenager) and exercising daily, why was my body growing in this way.

When I started university, I had long hair, and below my shoulders, a lovely boyfriend, and accepted a crevice of cleavage was part of the daily package to consider and learn to dress.

I had to embrace it because it would take a tent to conceal the now GG cups. Running was getting harder. I heard every pun along the lines of ‘you must get two black eyes running with those’, such original comedy from EVERYONE.

This led to increasing difficulty from a psychological point of view. Running was my sanctuary outside of the house but now having a guaranteed round of toots if traffic lights gave opportunity, I had to force myself to put my trainers on. I wore sunglasses in the hope of projecting ignorance to this crude attention.

Amongst the vans and work vehicles, I had fire engines and even ambulances honk horns and shout out pretty awful things. Ironically I’m now married to a firefighter!

These were grown men gawping at my ‘bouncing norks’ (yup that’s one word I heard frequently) even adding in hand gestures whilst their partners sat oblivious next to them.

I’d wrongly been put in a female-only flat. Uni started so seemingly well but gradually an undercurrent of bullying and tortuous manipulation by two of the flatmates led to some rather unpleasant months of my life.

One tactic they took was to body shame. Having been previously told by friends to make the most of my assets, hold my head high, and appreciate many women would pay for such a chest, these girls marred any confidence I had in doing so.

During this time I was also finding lumps and returning to my doctors to check whether any required further assessment. My posture was curved, I had an indent in my shoulder bone from the thick determined bra straps and an equally large indent in the bank balance to afford these ‘big bust’ bras.

With the cup size continuing to increase, lumps forming, silver thin stretched skin, and a multitude of other psychological and physical issues, I was offered a dual breast reduction.

Rounds of photos and surgeon’s artwork put into place the new boobs coming my way. I had a complete freak out in the lead-up to this operation, breaking up with my boyfriend, leaving university, and transferring to one closer to home and generally feeling panicked.

I was told the operation would mean I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed after a breast reduction, but having children wasn’t even on my new single radar.

The op itself was apparently harder than planned because my running and persistent exercise had caused my breasts to be very fibrous and more like a water balloon rather than a chunk of fat to cut away. Reconstruction was required and then an attempt to get the other breast to look as symmetrical as possible.

Initially healing with the blessed assistance of morphine went well. I needed a lot of help with dressing and personal care tasks due to the pain.

My axillars were permanently damaged and a thick deep dose of keloid scarring who knew? Genetically passed on, I didn’t even know about this treat… my new C cup boobs sitting pertly and beautifully in whatever lingerie I wanted but with these increasingly widening, purple/red painful scar lines.

“Own them,” friends said, “use them to cipher out the bad guys,” my family said. With new reasons to be self-conscious, had it not been for the ease of running again I would have definitely regretted the decision to have this procedure.

Again I was advised breastfeeding after a breast reduction would not be an option because of what had needed to be removed. But one success element was my nipples. Often false nipples are used should the reattached nipples fail to reconnect the blood supply.

Neatly stitched back on, complete with keloid scar surround, my nipples did, in fact, reconnect and stay put but were now over-reactive, ‘pinging’ at a slight touch and going white in any remotely cold weather.

Acupuncture (woven through the scar lines), reiki, massage, and so many lotions were used to break down the scar lines and promote healing.

This went on for years. And reactivity settled to what I can only hope are normal levels. I got pregnant and due to the severing and snipping involved with my op, I had been told breastfeeding wouldn’t be an option.

Too many ducts and glands had to be removed and the nipple was too damaged to connect any remains ducts to the areola. The internal scarring was expected to also cause issues.

But when in the early stages of labor I felt irrationally compelled to make breastfeeding after my breast reduction an option, a wonderful lactation consultant visited me and taught me there and then, whilst bouncing on the birthing ball, how to hand express.

There it was, the golden yellow liquid. This meant breastfeeding after a breast reduction was possible. Though my lactation consultant advised, the next few weeks would require some persistence to build supply from the few glands I had left to get them to cater for my baby.

Fast forward 4 years and those glands have worked throughout, tandem feeding my 4-year-old and stepping up a notch when my twins arrived last year prematurely. It took a few weeks but with frequent feeding & expressing we got there.

THE ‘HONEST BODY PROJECT’ AIMING TO NORMALIZE BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC

My surgeon was amazing, better than he even realized! I’m healthier now and able to exercise, so although they’ve been bashed and bruised, mocked, and teased, these beauties are continuing to exceed expectations.

Love your mind & body. It’s capable of more than we are sometimes led to believe. Do you have a story you want to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Is breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery possible?

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