Breastfeeding doesn’t cause sagging breasts!

Many women are depriving their babies of the benefits of breastfeeding for fear that this healthy habit may deform the breasts or cause them to sag. But a new study puts those fears to rest and will hopefully bury this old myth.

Yes, girls, breastfeeding does not cause the breasts to sag nor does it have any impact on the shape of the breasts. This good news comes from Dr. Brian Rinker of the University of Kentucky - a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the author of the study titled "The Effect of Breastfeeding upon Breast Aesthetics."

"Many women who come in for breast surgery tell us their breasts are sagging, drooping or are less full because they breastfed. Although the amount of sagging in the breasts appears to increase with each pregnancy, we've found that breastfeeding does not worsen the effect," Rinker said.

Rinker presented his study at the ASPS Plastic Surgery 2007 conference in Baltimore after he and his colleagues interviewed 132 women who came to their clinic for breast augmentation due to sagging breasts. Ninety-three patients had at least one pregnancy and 58 percent had breastfed at least one child.

"The duration of breastfeeding ranged from 2 to 25 months, with an average of nine months. Fifty-five percent of respondents reported an adverse change in the shape of their breasts following pregnancy," according to Medical News Today.

In studying the women, researchers took into account the subjects' medical history, bra size prior to pregnancy, body mass index (BMI), and smoking habits among others. The bottom line: women shouldn't be reluctant to breastfeed because of its numerous health benefits. Furthermore, breastfeeding has no effect whatsoever on breast sagging.

"As the first study to examine what impacts breast shape in connection to pregnancy, plastic surgeons found that a history of breastfeeding, the number of children breastfed, the duration of each child's breastfeeding, or the amount of weight gained during pregnancy were not significant predictors for losing breast shape. However, BMI, the number of pregnancies, a larger pre-pregnancy bra size, smoking history, and age were significant risk factors for an increased degree of breast sagging," said Medical News Today.