What does BF'ing do to your body long-term?

[HPonEverything]

Am pg with DC1 and will definitely be giving BF'ing a go. However I want to be prepared and I can't get any info about the negative effects of BF'ing on your body long-term/permanently (e.g. saggy breasts), only the temporary stuff. Sorry if this sounds really vain, I know it does

I am hoping for honest answers from ladies who have been there done that, and perhaps any tips for limiting the situation. Many thanks.

OMG! I would be tempted to report this MW to he superiors. This really, really is not acceptable. Not only is it detrimental to breastfeeding BUT it is absolutely inaccurate!

I would absolutly report that MW. I'd like to see the study that concluded "your man will go off you if he is a boob man"

I'm sure lots of these crap MW's only get away with this shit cause they say it to mostly first timers (antenatal classes etc). I took comments on the chin first time round, that now I look back on with anger. Woe betide the MW/HV that gives me any of that shit this time. I'll set MN on them...

What an idiotic MW! My OH has gone nuts over my boobs as they have increased from a modest 34B/C to an incredible 34F!! I find them a bit annoying that big and I need to invest in a really good sports bra!

I felt my womb contracting for the first week during bf and by now (week 8) I have lost all the pg weight. I am totally ravenous and eat all day though!

Breastfeeding reduces your lifetime risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis (and the longer you breastfeed for the greater the reduction in risk). If there was a drug available that did all that women would be demanding it be offered on the NHS.

Sagginess is related to being pregnant in the first place and to how genetically predisposed you are to go saggy. All breastfeeding does is delay whatever sagginess you were going to get anyway until after you finish breastfeeding (so if you, say, do natural term breastfeeding with several children you will spend a large chunk of your life significantly less saggy than if you didn't breastfeed).

DH is very much a boob man and has no complaints .

Um yeah that midwife sounds like she's talking from bitter personal experience! I've had 3 different sexual partners during the course of breastfeeding (I'm aware this sounds really bad Split up with XP when DS was 14 months, had a casual fling, the guy never met DS, then got together with DP when he was 2) and not one of them has complained, quite the opposite!

It seems some women's breasts get bigger, some get smaller, some get saggy, some stay as they are. I've heard women who BF and women who FF report any and all of these outcomes. I think my nipples are bigger and my boobs are probably about a cup size bigger than pre-pregnancy.

I take a larger cup size than I did pre-BF, but that's because I've been to a decent bra fitter rather than the crap one from M&S.

I did feel a bit deflated when I stopped and went back to a B cup from a D, but that's the effect of stopping, not the effect of BF, and now I've got used to them being their own size again.

Weight loss isn't a problem if you keep your food intake dictated by genuine hunger - you're starving all the time when BF, and when you stop you stop being hungry.

I BFed for 16 months, stopping 3 months ago. I was a 32E before preg, went up to a 32G while BF and am now settled to a 32F (fitted at Bravissimo )
I also lost weight easily while BF, getting to my prepregnancy weight at 6 months and losing another 5 pounds beyond that. It piled back on when I stopped BF and am now exactly the same as before pregnancy.
My boobs are a little softer and less firm and maybe 1/2 an inch lower than before but still point forward! They did get very veiny at the beginning but are now quite normal.My DH hated it when they squirted milk and leaked at random moments, but still thinks they look great now. They're a little more sensitive than before and I feel a bit ambivalent about them in a sexual context. On the plus side my nipples are much more often erect than before.
My tummy is still more squidgy than before, however many sit ups I do, but my arms and shoulders are super-muscular now due to lugging around my reluctant walker (DD at 19months). Legs and bum also OK due to pushing pushchair up 1/2 mile hill to the childminders .

Interesting about the oxytocin MoonFaceMamaaargh, I hadn't heard that

I know plenty of exclusively bfing Mums who got pg, so it's not a given that you'd not get pg if bfing.

My breasts disappeared after Ds stopped bfing at 18 months. Then they came back and were better than ever before. I was 34 when I had him, so was no spring chicken.

Dd is still bfing when she fancies at 4.7yo and I'm 47, so not convinced that mine will be beautiful again. To me, it's what breasts are there for and it's one of those things...I'm hopeful that bfing for the number of years that I have will keep me safe from various forms of cancer, so better droopy boobs, than no boobs IMO.

Imagine the tantrums if they'd not been bf then cch! It was in "Bf older children" by anne sinnot which is quite a new book i think and i think that particular study is quite recent iirc.

Is that the same as a tunnocks caramel waffer thing? They are amazing.

Crikey MFM on the tantrum front- I suppose they could be worse

Like caramel wafers but covered in coconut. Incredible. (Dangerous!)
retro sweetie hijack over!

how did i not know they exist?!

I've noticed my breasts look bit emptier than before but to me they look fine, dh certainly hasn't complained. Boobs are boobs aren't they, I expect dh is still glad he can get near the things.

Plus once you get past the initail period of getting to grips with things, then its so much easier. Kid cries, give it some milk plus you don't have the stress of faffing around with bottles. Plus the hormones make you sleep better as well.

Nothing at all, and I think (I know this doesn't work for everyone in fact some say the opposite) helped me slim down again after birth too.
My boobs were just the same, back in my own bras after 3 weeks of stopping - and I'd exclusively fed twins for 11 months! Amazing how resilient the body is, I'd gone from perky little 34As to stonking 32Es and back again.

I am actually laughing at the ridiculous comment of the midwife 'your DH will go off them if he's a boob man', because of course, all men are the same... My DH is most definitely a boob man and it is driving him a bit mad to not be able to go anywhere near them really as a) my nipples are only just recovering from early cracks/pain b) I have had mastitis twice which meant absolutely no unnecessary touching and c) there's no way anyone who comes near them isn't going to get squirted with milk during random let downs if I am bra less.

I have also lost loads of weight (I think almost 1 1/2 stone, but can't be exact) since BF my DD despite bigneing on cake/biscuits/chocolate/ice-cream a bit as I had gestational diabetes so couldn't eat sweet things or carbs during pregnancy. She's only 6 weeks old.

OP- Send this to the MW in question.

And then say "bet you feel like a bit of a tit now, eh?". I double dare you

My breasts have drooped but that's due to 4 pregnancies, age and very small breasts to begin with I think.

I wish I could say that I'm the same size as I was prepregnancy but have 6 kilos to lose. Dd3 is only 4 months though.

My son is 27 month old I still breastfeed..Hmm..good thing or bad who knows but I stopped talking about it with my relatives and friends becouse everyone thought that they know better, that I should stop breastfeed that he is big enough.I will harm my self.
I take vitamins because if I didn't I feel so tired.Othervise I have happy and healthy toddler who think that mummys milks is tasier than chocolate and sweets, yummy yuumi in tummy says my son afterwards and give me cheeky smile.
Yeh,I also struggle with weight loss, easier is blame breastfeeding than cake eating:)))

Thanks again.
Don't worry I'm still going to give it a go despite the comments from the MW! I want the best for my baby.

my dh wasn't a boob man before, I was a 34A. Now, 11m in to bfing and I'm a 34D and he is most definitely a boob man now!!!

I'm sceptical about the argument of pregnancy making boobs saggy. After my 1st pregnancy, my boobs stayed the same, 36B, I didn't BF (well only for about 2wks) but my baby was born 6wks early which could be a factor.

In my 2nd pregnancy, my boobs went up to a 36C until about 2wks postpartum. Now I'm BF, 10wks in, and my boobs are a 38D and there is a slight droopiness when not full.

However I've lost quite a bit of weight as I was huge when pregnant, now a reasonable 12-14. I love the closeness and bonding you get with breastfeeding. I definitely wouldn't stop now. If you didn't want your body to change, you wouldn't get pregnant, I'm not bothered by how my boobs look... not when my stomach looks like an 98yr old womans face!

Mine were a lovely shape a year after stopping bfing Ds, very pert indeed but I was mid 30's. Now they are pointing south...but I reckon it's mostly age...I do think it's more to do with bfing than pregnancy though, but then, I'm no expert, I just love breast feeding :)

Well I finished bfing my 2nd about 11 months ago and mine are ok. Unlike many posters here I put on the best part of a stone each time I exclusively bf'd because as soon as the baby is out I spend 6 months eating like a marathon runner the day before a big race. Because I can. When pregnant my stomach gets so squashed I can barely eat a third of a usual portion at a time.

I have lost about 2 stone in the last year and they are smaller now (in a good way) but not in bad nick at all. Bit droopier than they were 15 years ago but assuming that is age rather than bf related.

Jesus I can't believe I'm thinking about doing it all again.