Q. Is it safe to breastfeed with breast implants?

A. We are not doctors and we are not providing medical advice, but we can tell you what we know from research and from speaking with many experts and women who have had implants.

According to the Institute of Medicine, any kind of breast surgery, including breast implant surgery, makes it more likely that a woman trying to breastfeed will not have enough milk to breastfeed (lactation insufficiency). You can read more about this here.

Unfortunately, little is known about the safety of breast milk among women with breast implants. Pediatricians believe the milk is safe, but there is so little research that we don't know if that is true. Some women believe that their children are sick because of their breast implants, while others think their children were not harmed at all by nursing with implants.

Last year, a chemistry professor at American University, Dr. Susan Maharaj, reported finding high levels of platinum in the breast milk of women with breast implants. She also reported that children who had been breastfed by women with breast implants had dangerously high levels of platinum in their bodies. Platinum is used to help make breast implants, but is supposed to be used in very tiny microscopic amounts. Children who had been breastfed BEFORE breast implants by the same mothers did not have high levels of platinum.

The comments and statements of the National Research Center for Women & Families are believed and intended to be accurate, and where applicable, based on scientific literature. NRC's statements do not constitute medical diagnoses, medical advice, plans of treatment, or legal opinion, and we are not responsible for the use or application of this information. All medical information should be reviewed with your health care practitioner.

We hope that the information we've provided is helpful. In order to maintain this free service to all women and their families, we invite your tax-deductible contributions to NRC (see http://www.center4research.org/contribute1.html)

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