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Infant feeding

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Does breastfeeding really cause "droopy breasts"?

100 replies

ObviouslyDroopyAcademic · 05/04/2011 19:24

I've just been informed by a nursing postgraduate whose essay I'm marking that breastfeeding causes "droopy breasts".

Honestly, is this true? Can anyone give me an evidence, referenced answer?

[Name change, obviously, to protect myself for being bollocked for using MN for academic research the identity of the student.]

OP posts:
rollittherecollette · 06/04/2011 13:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bratfink · 06/04/2011 14:18

Clearly there is only one way to decide once and for all.....hands round pencils

32 years old
32f
1 DC
15 mths bf
Mother - fairly perky for an OAP
1x sister also perky

I can hold one beneath a boob, but not two

Bratfink · 06/04/2011 14:19

Christ sorry about use of perky has just hit me it's an awful expression

Babieseverywhere · 06/04/2011 14:20

Lol, or more likely people say they 'are off' as they have a rl appointment to get to

Babieseverywhere · 06/04/2011 14:21

Oooo, free pencils...takes a couple. :)

Bratfink · 06/04/2011 14:23

Only if you can smuggle them out without using your hands Wink

togarama · 06/04/2011 15:40

rollittherecollette: "You know i allways feel that someone who begins or ends a post with a 'Im off now but...' knows that they have lost the argument. For the record you have repeatedly decended to off-point and personal remarks about me when you cant think of anything better to say. Rather tends to show you up a bit"

Huh? Yes, I think that "Sollipsistic tosh" (was that the phrase used earlier?) is a pretty fitting description of your posts on this thread so far.

TikTok has used evidence to back up her posts. What exactly have you used? How on earth can you claim to have "won" this "argument"? I can't see that you've managed to successfully counter anything TikTok has said.

You've just stated your own point of view and experience repeatedly in a really irritating, attention-seeking kind of way.

Whether you agree with her or not, TikTok has actually been very measured in her responses to you. You're coming across as very annoying and slightly dim.

rollittherecollette · 06/04/2011 17:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tiktok · 06/04/2011 17:37

Back now :)

rollit - If all you said was 'in my experience......' no one would have any issues with you. But you didn't.

These are direct quotes:

"I cannot see how that is true what with the constant inflation/delfation with milk coming in and going out. I strongly suspect ulterior motives when i hear that."

"its an old chestnut that is trotted out to enourage bf"

"another example of bf lobby misleading women to encourage bf"

"Nor is it correct to state that there is any support for the assertion that 'generally breasts do not droop because of breastfeeding'."

"It is furthermore contrary to common sense."

Each of these arguments from you has been countered, sometimes with careful explanations of what 'common sense' really does indicate, and sometimes with links to the science showing it's not an 'old chestnut', and sometimes showing the considerable support for the assertion that 'generally breasts do not droop because of breastfeeding'.

No one has got at you, except to point out your resistance to having your arguments challenged.

You have clear resentment issues with people you see as the breastfeeding lobby and you state they 'mislead' people on this point.

I can't help you with this resentment, as it seems to be well-entrenched, but I can suggest you listen to counter-arguments and read other people's, and your own, posts accurately.

thesnowmanleft · 06/04/2011 17:42

How would you know if it was pregnacy or breast feeding? 'Droopy' seems a questionable word to use in scientific research, particulalry at such high level.

Mine were very droopy immediately after I stoppe breast feeding but are back to normal now, after 2 years.

tiktok · 06/04/2011 17:46

snowman - apparently the scientific word is 'ptosis' :) :)

From the Greek, you know, meaning 'a fall'.

(Thank you, Wikipedia)

TruthSweet · 06/04/2011 17:53

What we really need to solve this 'dilemma' for once and for all is to have a group of non-pg women under go induced lactation and then bf for several years, some pg women who agree to have medication (if it exists, if not we need to invent it just for this study) administered to stop lactation before it starts (week 26ish in pg?) and one group who don't have any children or breastfeed and then see who has the saggiest breasts at the end of it all.

Obviously to be completely fair we will have to match the three groups up by class, age, breast size prior to pg/induced lactation, ethnicity, education, area they live in, IQ, marital/relationship status and have a large cohort of say, 300,000 women so it is statistically relevant. Not sure how we would go about double blinding it though, I assume childless women would notice having a baby feed off them multiple times a day?

On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure it's worth that much effort Grin

rollittherecollette · 06/04/2011 19:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tiktok · 06/04/2011 19:33

dictionary.reference.com/browse/solipsism

Definition no. 2.

TomThumbMum · 06/04/2011 20:54

rollittherecollette are you persistently spelling tiktok's name incorrectly to wind us up even more?! Wink

gloyw · 07/04/2011 09:46

As someone whose 9 month old DS is EBF, I'm interested to see what happens to my breasts later on, after I've stopped (whenever that is).

Unless they are full to bursting, which hardly every happens these days, they are definitely less firm than they were pre-preg - larger, but saggier. Given the tendency of the body to stretch and sag as it gets older, I'd be surprised if these effects were reversed, but let's see. As others have said, it must depend on the individual a lot. I had no stretch marks during pregnancy - luck of the draw, isn't it.

I'm sceptical of the idea that it's just pregnancy that affects the shape of breasts. I don't find that a reason NOT to bf, I just don't really believe it. My mother's nipples were permanently slightly more drawn out after BF-ing her 2 DDs, and I can see a change in mine, they stick out more now. I would assume that after 2 bouts of mastitis, all the associated massaging and pumping, the early pattern of engorgement and emptying, that it would be stranger for breasts to emerge totally unaffected than bear some signs of their experience. It's an extended physiological process - it seems odd for the human body to have no 'record' of it.

I am happy to admit 2 things - one is that this reminds me a little of the oft repeated line about changes to the pelvic floor all being the result of pregnany, not vaginal birth. This is obviously nonsense, and irritates the crap out of me hearing it being blithely repeated all over birth boards.

The second thing - as I say, I am EBF-ing my DS, and have no plans to stop any time soon - but I actually feel sad and a little angry about how much a lot of the difficulties and sheer grind of early BF-ing were glossed over when I was being encouraged to BF, before DS was born. I think a 'soft sell' for BF-ing doesn't work, and backfires horribly when new mums find it hard going. And stop, because they think it should be easier, and there's something wrong with them.

BF-ing is best for babies - that's why I'm doing it. But the most vocal (and entertaining) session in my BF supprt group was when the group as a whole asked HVs why they hadn't been told about certain things in advance (cluster feeding, for example) - and HVs got defensive and said they weren't 'allowed' to say anything 'negative' about BF-ing in case it put women off! A few of us pointed out that being REALISTIC wasn't being negative, and overly rosy portraits of BF-ing make wome MORE likely to give up.

I'm not suggesting 'may cause drooping!' is part of advance info about BF-ing, btw! just that is someone asks if their breasts might change shape at all, it makes much more sense to say it probably varies from woman to woman, and things like excessive weight gain/loss and exercising without a good bra are more likely to cause stretching and shape change. In all honesty, when someone just says NO, IT DOESN'T AFFECT THEM AT ALL! it makes me a bit mistrustful of anything else they might have to say about BF-ing.

So yeah, I probably have a couple of ishoos, and no one needs to get angry with me in pointing them out, please. In the absence of some good large scale research that indicates breasts experience no shape change after BR-ing, then common sense tells me there must be some change. It's likely to vary from individual to individual, but there are very few big physical processes we go through and emerge totally unchanged. For me, that's no reason at all not to BF, it's just part and parcel of it all. Doesn't seem hugely unreasonable to me.

tiktok · 07/04/2011 10:00

gloyw - if you are looking for evidence that things are not as random as you think, you'd be interested in the links I posted downthread, which indicate that pregnancy has a greater effect than bf, though of course this does not predict the experience of every individual woman.

Most of the 'extended physiological process' of breastfeeding is reversed when bf ceases, because new fat largely replaces the milk making and storing tissue in the breasts.

(I have never heard people say that pelvic floor changes are solely caused by pregnancy and not vaginal birth - it's well-established that the incidence of prolapse in later life is increased with vaginal birth, though it's obv not the only factor.)

gloyw · 07/04/2011 17:46

I've just had a look at the links, tiktok, thank you.

Like I say, I'll be interested to see what mine are like whenever I'm done BF-ing DS.

For the 'childbirth doesn't give you pelvic floor change, it's pregnancy does all that' nonsense, check out the Childbirth board here whenever someone mentions wanting a CS! There's always a few. Tell them that the risk of prolapse in later life is related to VB, and they'll be onto you like nobody's business...

attachedmummy · 10/04/2011 19:55

Breastfeeding does not cause breasts to sag, it's pregnancy.

NotQuiteCockney · 10/04/2011 20:21

I have heard that there is some evidence that sudden stopping of breastfeeding (rather than dropping one feed per week etc) can be hard on the breasts. The engorgement is not great for you.

Which a) makes some sense and b) is essentially what lots of non-breastfeeding women do, by not breastfeeding at all, they end up badly engorged.

While we're doing anecdotal evidence, I have BF two kids, for a grand total of 5 years, and my breasts are pretty much as they were to begin with. I never go over a B cup though, which is no doubt a factor.

otchayaniye · 11/04/2011 10:24

No, mine have gone from 34DD to 34E (am still breastfeeding a 2-1/2 year old but hardly any milk although am pregnant) and they are in better nick and still high.

slight off topic, but for larger breasts and longer term breastfeeding I really recommend Anita underwired feeding bras. I wore these daily for 2 or so years. No mono-tit and made you feel nice and well-supported under clothes. I think the self esteem aspect of looking ok made me feel sometimes less like an object with mammary glands and more like me, just that I fed alot. Of course, I'm making this complex subject sound glib, but really, I felt awful in nasty non-wired feeding bras and tops.

Get a few sizes to try (figleaves do them, they are pricey German make, but rock solid) as you want a good fit to avoid cutting off ducts. Maybe best to get when feeding has settled down after the first few crazy weeks.

RamblingRosa · 11/04/2011 10:31

I don't think BF is the culprit (as someone who BFed for for over a year and who has less perky than before but still pretty perky breasts - no pencils here Grin) but I do think everyone's different. Surely it's like some people getting stretchmarks and others not.

Isn't it to do with a range of factors? How much your breasts increased in size, how supportive your bra was, how droopy they were to start with, genes and skin condition. I imagine some people genetically have firmer skin and firmer breast. I also imagine people who start off with small perky breasts are likely to stay that way.

I don't know. Not very scientific but I just reckon there must be lots of factors.

BleachedWhale · 11/04/2011 10:38

I can only give you my own anecdotal evidence: after bf, and approaching the menopause, my breasts are still perky and not droopy.
And vaginal childbirth has not given me a droopy fanjo, either.
I do tend to keep reasonably fit, do my Kegel excercises, but I think many of the horror stories about the effect of childbearing on women's bodies are based in misogyny over a non-sexual focus on women.
Listen to pre-childbearing young women or groups of young men talk about post-childbirth women and you often will hear disgust and horror.

BleachedWhale · 11/04/2011 10:42

Oh, and my mother eho has the same number of DC as me but never bf has breasts which needed much more support at may age than I do - but then she has much bigger breasts.

chipmonkey · 11/04/2011 11:41

My breasts were never very perky to start with but I have spent 6.5 years of my life bfing and can honestly say they're not any less perky than they were. My abdomen on the other hand has been ruined by pregnancy and Caesarean sections and despite never having had a VB, my pelvic floor is not what it was when I was 20.

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