Some women DO just have crap breasts...

[ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight]

It's true. Just had a bit of a revelation about my strange looking boobs (thanks to secret diary of a call girl of all things!) They have a name and often make it hard to BF - don't grow during pregnancy, don't engorge, often have very poor supply)
look here

(I know it's babycentre, just ignore that!) So experts what do you think? Do you see a lot of these types of breasts and women having success?

I have never (yet) seen a woman with hypoplastic breasts. My understanding is that they are quite rare, and that depending on the degree of underdevelopment, some women find they do lactate, but may need to supplement as well. I certainly wouldn't describe them as crap.

Lol well I have them and I find them crap! They aren't like some of the pictures with no flesh at all but I had massive supply issues. I am sure they are rare, bad luck I suppose.

They dont prevent BF in everybody though, only some.

I thin we know that some women cannot BF, but far more beleive they cannot

I know - and I believe that. But it's interesting to read a medical explanation of the 'unexplained' reasons why I couldn't produce enough milk. Perhaps this condition is something that contributes to the small number who can't BF effectively?

I'm sure it does, but it also shows that BF can be worked towards otr alongside even with complicating physiologies which is important.

kat, I agree this is a rare condition, but I do believe it exists, and that even more rarely, it can make building a full supply quite difficult.

I have seen only one pair of breasts which I would describe like this (and I have seen many, many breasts ) and the case sticks in my mind for being unusual. The mother did have difficulty, made immeasurably worse by truly hopeless support. When I saw her the baby was 8 weeks old and very thin. Freq feeding made a real difference. I know the mother's cousin, who told me a couple of years later that the mum was still bf

this site is good for showing hypoplastic but also making you (well me LOL) feel that what they have got is pretty normal (mine are quite lopsided, as I have a weakened left arm and couldnt feed well on that side with ds1`)

I know it's what I have I just never knew there was a name for it. People seem to say that if you are prepared before the baby is born you can work on supply from the outset which might help.
I'm not sure whether I feel better or worse knowing that I really do have useless tits...

I know a woman with ONE breast that fits that description. I never actually met her but gave her counselling support through email. She described her one undeveloped breast as very tubular as that link mentions and very narrow against her chest wall. It's a very distinctive and extremely rare condition. Breast doesn't change in pregnancy. Her other breast was normal and she was able to bf single-sided. Her first time round she tried to use her underdeveloped side and got into a pickle. Second time she stuck with one side from the beginning and ended up feeding well beyond 12 months. I can't remember exactly.

Oh my god
This is what's wrong with me I always knew my boobs were different!

I'm sitting here in tears because now I know this is the reason I wasn't able to build up a good supply with DS1 and now again with DS2 (5 weeks old)

I'm sooo desperate to exclusively BF! I just haven't been able to cope with the demand of my baby boy
Now I feel like a complete failure

My boobs look almost exactly like the ones in the picture. The only difference is mine are a little bigger (and I mean a little)
I've never seen boobs like mine, I used to think I was weird but learnt to live with them. One of them is definitely worse than the other, a good size smaller than the other and DS2 gets exceptionally frustrated when I put him on it
What makes it worse is when I hear people say "Every woman can breast feed, it's supply on demand" this makes me feel completely useless
It doesn't help that I have PCOS so really struggled to conceive plus I couldn't manage to give birth naturally (have now had two c-sections) and now I can't even feed my baby

DS2 is now on mostly formula as I just want an easy life (and trust me, it is easier and DS is so much happier) but I'm regretting it so much and desperately long to feed my baby boy myself. I just want to cry whenever I give him a bottle.

I can't express. I have an electric Medela pump and in half an hour I got a dribble out.

What can I do? I'm about to order some fenugreek on the net but I'm finding it hard to believe that will solve my problem on it's own.

My problem is (and it sounds a dreadful thing to say) I don't have time to sit for hours upon hours on end marathon feeding DS. I started back at work as a childminder when he was 4 weeks old (I had hoped my milk would have been established by then) BFing takes literally hours and I end up sore from all the sucking and DS is still hungry after all that time.
I know formula feeding is the worst thing I can do for my supply but it only takes 15-20 mins to give him a 5oz bottle and he's happy after so I can get on and do things with the other children.

I just wish I didn't have to give him formula, there must be something I can do?

Have any of you heard of this company? It seems very cheap compared to Holland & Barratt .....

this is interesting
Kat Do you have PCOS too?

Too late for me now (my DDs are 10 & 5) but I have crap breasts too.

I was always pretty flat-chested and they hardly grew at all during pregnancy. I was very keen to breastfeed, after all I wanted the best possible start for my babies, and all the professionals at the time promoted breastfeeding. I remember one midwife telling me "all mothers can breastfeed and the only reason they give up is the public embarrassment". Bollocks - I never cared about breastfeeding in public and I was determined I would bf my babies.

Both DDs latched on with no problem and I experienced no soreness, but I just couldn't produce enough milk for either of them, especially DD1 who had (and still has) a huge apetite. She was constantly wanting me and I just couldn't satisfy her. In the end my midwife had to admit that I should give in and give her formula; once I did my DD grew and developed tremendously - I wish I had done it earlier, she must have been hungry .

The midwife told me to expect some discomfort from stopping bfeeding, but I had none at all - proof to me that I was hardly producing milk in the first place!

I still feel quite negative about the whole bfeeding thing - I believe that it is the best you can do for your baby but I also think that sometimes it just isn't possible and the solution is to formula feed. On the plus side my DDs are very healthy and don't seem disadvantaged in any way!

Hey fruity
Isn't it something though to realise that 1 - you are not a freak and 2 - there is a reason why you couldn't BF? It makes me a little hopeful for next time - forewarned is forearmed. But also it makes me feel like my body is crap and doesn't work properly.
No I don't have PCOS, but I read that they often go together.

No one's body is crap!

We all have wonderful bodies!

This is just another way for women to do themselves down and blame themselves....some bits of some people may work better than other bits of other people, but that's life and the luck of the draw.

You can feel superior to people who make blanket stamements about 'everyone can breastfeed if they really want to' or whatever daft generalisation poorly-informed people come out with.

Women who are struggling to breastfeed when nature is against them need a lot of support, practical ideas on what might make the most of what they can do, and some TLC if it still doesn't go well.

I can imagine it must be highly irritating to get platitudes and cliches instead

fruity and nutty - you are NOT a failure. If you are right and you are in this incredibly small group then this is beyond your control.
What kind of real life support have you had? You are not giving a bottle 'because you want an easy life' - it's pretty clear you didn't make the decision so lightly.

Fenugreek is worth a try and maybe domperidone from your doctor too. It sounds as though you have some milk-producing tissue which is positive. Using an SNS if you have to top-up could be valuable too.

tiktok and samjam you are quite right of course. My body is not crap, it produced a baby! But after years of being embarrassed by my breasts, only to find that they don't even perform their primary function properly, I do feel a bit crap about them. It does help to know that there is a reason behind it, I was pretty sick of hearing that I should have tried harder or whatever.
Next time I'll be far more prepared, take the stuff, get a proper electric pump, and get proper help with the latch straight away. Hopefully (as I can obviously produce some milk) I can help my body to produce more.
Wouldn't it have been good though if one of the many MWs and HV that saw my breasts had recognised the condition and told me that I may not be able to produce enough milk by myself? Then I might not have beaten myself up so much about giving formula or basically starved my son for 7 weeks

Yes Kat, it would have been great if one of your HPs had recognised the condition and helped you. It makes me that they did not. In fact, even if you did not have this condition but were really struggling it makes me that no-one provided more expert help.

I agree that telling mothers that everybody can breastfeed is unhelpful. Whether it is hypoplastic breasts, or one of the myriad other things that can lead to women having insufficient milk (albeit most of them avoidable with proper help) telling women that they should be able to do it seems unhelpful, especially when they are struggling. I'm sure it was meant kindly -sort of positive encouragement hoping to empower, but sadly that's often not the effect of this sort of comment.

I hope that everyone who has had a revelation on reading this thread is OK and takes some time to come to terms with it. Fruity -ringing one of the helplines for some practical support might be helpful for you perhaps?

Thanks for that kat, tiktok and SamJam.

kat, I agree it's nice to know there is a reason for not being able to bf properly but it just makes me feel as though pcos is taking over my life. It seems to cause me problems constantly, be it trying to conceive, bfing, controlling my weight (I'm fairly slim but it's a huge battle to stay like it), and trying to keep excessive hair at bay. It's like it controls me. Now this bfing thing is like kicking me while I'm down

I'm so grateful and amazed to have been able to produce two beautiful children, I should I can't help it.
I get so jealous - almost to the point of hatred - of women who have no trouble bfing.

SamJam - I know it's beyond my control - this is the problem, I want to be in control, I should be in control.
I'm going to buy one of those sns contraptions. I've not had much real life support. My mother (who successfully bf both me and my sister for a long time) and dp kept asking if he was getting enough and why not just give him a bottle I have a friend who is a bfing councellor but I don't think she is that well informed tbh.

I know there is one at the hospital, I need to try and find her phone number.

I just want to scream "Why me?" Especially when I come across women who say they didn't even want to bother trying to bf. Why can't this have happened to them? I was desperate to bf after failing so miserably with DS1

Sorry Grendle - crossed posts, yes I do need to find a helpline for support. I will look into it today

Fruity

I know how it feels to think you ahve starved yor son (all my boys weights dropped off in the early weeks of BF, ds1 got to about 4lbs)- it's allergy related in our case but there's a massive,incredible diofference between deliberately starving your child and battling to do something- BF- that we nderstand is a the best thing for the. Please don't beat yourself up, and have been and are doing your best- wow.

Domperidone and fenugreek might well help, Fennel increased my supply with ds4 (in tea form from Asda)- try all of them i reckon? Worth a shot.

And if it doesn't work well you've fought so hard to do it, good on you. A reala chievement in itself.

If somebody had a bit of them that didnt work as per design- ds1's weak wrists, my terrible eyes- you wouldnt think of them as a failure would you? We all ahve little bits that dont quite go as perpaln, that's just life. We mustnt feel badly about it.

are there any pictures on the link posted by the OP because I can't see any only an article. btw I think I have these too my breasts were flat until I put on weight they are narrow to chest wall and areola are very big. They didn't grow at all during pregnancy. They did become engorged though and had I sought out more help or indeed knew it was out there I think I could have breastfed sucessfully.

me23 i found this on a boob job sitehere

i have mildly hypoplastic breasts too, im so glad im not the only one out there

Thanks Peachy I'll try fennel too although I hate aniseed tastes (uuugghh)

me23 - scroll down to Tubular hypoplastic breasts

I posted a link further down also

It'ssad when people dont know the help that is out there