Is it safe to have breast implants before pregnancy?
In this modern era, plastic surgery is becoming more and more popular. As a result, it is more common for younger women to get things like breast implants. However, how do breast implants change and shift as your body adapts to pregnancy?
During pregnancy, your body is more vulnerable than during other times. Breast implants are considered lifetime devices that involve invasive surgery to get an implant and remove.
Breast implants are not negatively affected by pregnancy and do not get in the way of breastfeeding. However, there is no guarantee that you will not experience any complications from your breast implants. Therefore, the safest option for you and your baby is to get breast implants after your pregnancy rather than before.
Will pregnancy ruin my breast implants?
No, pregnancy will not ruin your breast implants. Naturally, your breast tissue will enlarge. However, since your breast implants will be made out of a foreign object, they will not likely change. Some women will experience sagging or permanent enlargement of their breasts after pregnancy and breastfeeding, but this is not every woman.
However, there is some evidence to suggest that women with breast implants experience more pain in their chests during their pregnancy than women without them.
Can I breastfeed with breast implants?
Women do breastfeed with breast implants. Breast implant surgery should not affect your nipples whatsoever, as the implant should be placed between your chest wall and your breast, far away from your nipples. There can be damage to your milk ducts or your sense of sensation to your nipples from the surgery. These conditions could prevent you from breastfeeding.
Pregnancy does permanently alter your breast tissue. Breasts may change the placement of your implant. Performing surgery to correct this can only take place a minimum of six months after you stop breastfeeding. This is another reason why many doctors may tell you to wait to get breast implants. Any corrective surgery will have to be put on hold.
What are the risks of having breast implants during pregnancy and breastfeeding?
During Pregnancy
All the risks of having implants while not pregnant are intensified by the risks associated with operating on a pregnant person. These risks include:
- Asymmetrical implants
- Breast pain
- Thinning and shrinking of skin
- Hard calcium deposits
- Hardening of the areas around the implant
- Leakage of the saline or silicone implant
- Delayed healing of the incision site
- The skin breaks, and the implant becomes visible
- Collections of blood or hematoma near the incision site
- Damage to the tissue
- Infections in and around the implant
- Irritation or inflammation caused by the implant
- Issues with lymph nodes
- Displacement of the implant
- Dead skin in and around the breast, also called necrosis
- Nipple sensation loss
- Breast sagging
- Rashes around the implant
- Issues with placement or how the implant looks
Should any of these issues take place during your pregnancy, you will either have to wait for six months after you stop breastfeeding or you will have to perform a high-risk surgery to take care of the issue.
Breastfeeding
It has been speculated that women with silicone breast implants can somehow transmit silicone elements to their children should they breastfeed. These claims are not substantiated. Further scientific studies have primarily debunked this idea. However, there are not many studies on this issue. There is no way to detect silicone in breastmilk properly, and the majority of women who have breast implants choose not to breastfeed.
Other than the idea that breastmilk may carry silicone to the baby, the only additional risk is that the pregnant woman would not be able to breastfeed at all. However, not all women who have implants experience any problems. Be sure to consult with your doctor and your surgeon before you get implants if you also want to breastfeed. In most cases, you should be able to breastfeed even after your implant surgery.
Knowledge is power
Getting breast implants is a cosmetic and elective surgery that presents a potential risk to a pregnancy. Therefore, if you are in a position to wait to get breast implants until after your pregnancy, you should think about doing that.
However, if you already have breast implants and you are pregnant, your pregnancy and breastfeeding should not be negatively affected by or negatively affect your breast implants.
