true or false? breastfeeding leads to saggy breasts

[Meli65]

The reason I ask is that this keeps coming up in the newspaper here -- several times in the last few months, the fashion editor has made reference to, for example, a woman needing an extra-supportive bra because she "breastfed three children."

I read somewhere that this is a myth -- that, in fact, pregnancy itself stretches out the breasts. I don't know -- I am large-breasted, am nursing my second and am still, um, hanging in there.

Any real information available? I want to write her a letter and ask her to stop it -- seems like women will pick any reason not to breastfeed. Might as well nip this misperception in the bud (if in fact it's not true). Thanks!

[ledzepplon]

In can't say 100% for sure that it wasn't the nursing that did it, but mine definietely are NOT as perky as they used to be! I blame pregnancy. I got really bad stretch marks (that faded, thankfully) during my first pregnancy, and my (small) breasts grew a ton. But after a few months they did seem to "deflate" somewhat. I think this would have happened whether I breastfed or not.

[dukeswalker]

PREGNANCY!! I didn't nurse my 1st : and they were sad, deflated, empty water balloons....

[BabyBumblebee]

Gravity is the culprit!My boobies had started to slide long before I got pg or bf, simply because they'd been hanging around on my chest for *years*!!!


BFing has just made them lopsided - thanks dd :LOL

[~Nikki~]

Hmm, I'd say aging, and pregnancy, are worse on the boobs than actually using them for their true purpose. Mine are still pretty perky (after 2 breastfed kids). My mother's are saggy, and she didn't breastfeed (she's in her mid-40's). My grandmother had 6 kids, none breastfed, and she's quite saggy (unfortunatly, yes, I've seen her topless ).

[Meiri]

Gravity.

It's not just pregnancy or women who'd never been would never sag; they do.
It's not breastfeeding or a distressingly large percentage of our grandmothers' or mothers' generations would still be perky, without benefit of surgery. They aren't.

[TigerTail]

nikki's right.

one kid, in my twenties/thirties, nursing round the clock for many years, perk.

two more thirties/forties, well, gravity & pregnancy even get us perky ones. :LOL

athough with them half-weaned & perimenopause, everything is kind of shrinking back in on itself, skin included. so that's cool.

back in the day, when locker rooms were nekkid & pe mandatory, i remember what seemed (to a near boobless me) a shocking number of really loose saggy boobs on 13 yr old girls. it's not obvious, because girls are wearing bras if they have to deal with this, and not customarily getting nude for photogs when they hit 18. but it was pretty common. genetics, i say. having pert breasts after years of nursing was god's compensation for the years of having my bra strap snapped, i like to think.

susan

[MelKnee]

Based on my mother, grandmothers, aunts and cousins, all of whom FFed, it's pregnancy and age.

[jcw]

I really hate to admit it, but I think breastfeeding AND gravity did it to me. I didn't get any stretch marks in pregnancy, but after a few weeks of nursing my first child, I looked like I'd been attacked by a wild beast. I got so engorged so many times, they just streeeetched right out. Gravity hurt too, because while my breasts were so filled with milk they were much heavier. In retrospect, I wish I'd been more careful not to walk around the house bra-less so often, carrying those big heavy sacks of milk around. I am happily nursing my second now and I have no regrets. It's definitely worth a few battle scars!

[ozzyemm]

I am 7 months pregnant with my 1st child, 26 and now a 44DDD. When I was 12, I was a 36C. While I was in the tub, Mom walked in and said, "Wow, Emily, your boobs are starting to sag." So, from the time I was 12 or thirteen, my boobs have been saggy. I was 110 and 5'1, so I wasn't fat. Some women just have saggy boobs. I am one of them. Could you imagine a 40DD (what I was Pre-preg) with perky breasts? You would think I had surgery!

[velcromom]

Genetics, time and pregnancy are the causes of breast changes IMO. My mom nursed only a total of 6 months, I on the other hand nursed longer than that with my first, now with my second I have accumulated a total of 44 months of nursing. If nursing caused sagging, I'd be much much saggier than she was at this age - nope.

Let's remember too, why the ideal of perky firm breasts still persists even though there is nothing inherently "better" about any particular breast shape or size... time for another visit here !

[momof3sweeties]

Gravity and age!

I nursed or was pregnant for a good 8 years straight. Sometimes nursing and pregnant. Tandem nursed too...after my youngest weaned they shrunk a little and aren't as perky as they used to be...but I think that goes with mid 30's too! My hubby doesn't seem to mind and there are so many cool push up bras so no worries!

[USAmma]

When a woman gets pregnant, the fatty tissue of her breasts is replaced by milk ducts full of milk. After the baby is born the milk increases and the breasts get bigger until the milk supply is regulated. Larger women may have fat stores in addition to the milk. When the baby weans, especially if it is not gradual, the milk dries up and all there is left of the breasts is the connective tissue, the empty milk glands, and skin. Fat may be present in some women but not all. That's why they get saggy and even hollow-looking for awhile. Oh, and elastin is secreted during pregnancy and will cause the skin to become stretchier and gravity will make the breasts longer.

As your skin ages and you get older and lose the female hormones (menopause), your breasts will start to shrink inside, and at the same time the skin is less supple because of age. Gravity starts to play a greater part.

All women, regardless of breastfeeding, will sag as they age. Those who breastfed may sag sooner because their skin stretched out more during pregnancy and lacation.

[Wugmama]

I breastfed for so long that I couldn't remember what they used to look like before I started to breastfeed! :LOL

In fact, my nursing overlapped my current pg, so it has been over 4 years since I had non-nursing, not pg breasts. Really can't remember what they were like.


~Tracy

[gottaknit]

I just can't believe we live in a country where "saggy breasts" are a news item! :LOL

[HelloKitty]

Gravity and age are the problem not breastfeeding IMO.

[Full Heart]

Gravity. I think they are supposed to be saggy aren't they? Who said they have to be perky? http://www.007b.com/ That site has what normal breasts look like and even the ones who have never been pg or bf were saggy.

Mine are so big they hang down to my waist - how can I tell if they are saggy? If they stood up I would poke someone in the eye. :LOL

[CryPixie83]

I'd say genetics probably have a hand as well.

Mine were pretty perky before pregnancy, dipped a little lower while preggo and well, now they're a bit droopy (but I still think they look pretty good lol). Honestly mine didn't start to sag until dd started to do acrobatics while nursing (pulling away, yanking, turning upside down, you know the drill).

[sept04mama]

I would say the only way to know is to only breastfeed on one side, then compare the two! Since we can't go back and do it differently, then compare, I really don't think there is a way to know. Maybe if you compared identical twins, where one FF and the other BF, that would give an idea.

Sorry to be so technical! I think the real answer is gravity!

[Belle]

How else would I be able to BF in bed with both my dd and I lying on our backs without droopy breasts?

I didn't get stretch marks on my breasts until my milk came in two days after my dd was born. I would have got stretch marks whether I BF or not. I think it's pregnancy and not BFing that causes saggy breasts.