After breasfeeding

[jackie0]

Hi there,I've got a friend who's very unhappy that her boobs have sagged and are smaller after stopping to breastfeed.  She breastfed for just over a year or so. Is there anything she can do?  I would have thought this is normal with all women?

[jills]

Oooh, sympathies to your friend....me too!  Still feeding my 14mnth old at bedtime, but already the boobs have pretty much gone.  Oh how I miss those massive 38DDs I had for a few weeks!!!  But, to be honest, when I put on one of my pre prgnancy bras, they still fit OK.  Not quite as pert as they once were when unleashed (to say the least) but you know, my partner doesn't seem to mind one iota and really, neither do I.  I had great breasts for 33 years, but I traded them in for my son.

As for what she can do....get pregnant again? (joking!!). Seriously, not sure if there's anything that would help, short of cosmetic surgery, but I hope she finds something that will lift her spirits about this. Your a lovely friend for trying to help...I'm sure she'll appreciate having you around to talk to about this.xx

[jills]

Oops! ..... you're a...

[Corkyb]

My sister in law had the same problem, and after 3 children she is smaller now than before she had them!

It does seem to be one of the downsides to having children, as during pregnancy and breast feeding the breast tissue expands, hence the droop!

 

There are exersizes specifically for the pectoral muscles (breast muscles) which will firm them again, but not to the same degree as the pre baby state. Get your friend to have a word with her health visitor or doctor, as they may be able to help her.

[pickle]

I sympathise as this also happened with me.  I breastfed for 6 and a half months and they were quite small, droopy and basically like empty socks after.  (Happy 36C before hand.)  As someone else said, my bra's didn't seem all that big though.  And I did loose a bit of weight after the baby was born. 

Happily I am expecting again now and they are a firm, fullsome, bra filling shape again.  What will happen when I stop feeding though I don't know.  My mum said hers were a similar size but went up to E cup after the 4th child and stayed that way!!  Looks like I'll have to keep going!

[atkrhome]

After having a baby your body is never the same, its a fact of life mothers have to live with!!

[jackie0]

Poor mothers!  So there's just NOTHING at all in the world women can do? Can someone give some websites/links to the breast exercises someone mentioned above?

[jills]

Exercises can help to an extent with the muscle underlying the breast, but the breast itself cannot be made "pert" again through excercise....the tissue is not capable of toning up in that way.  So yes, you could lift the underlying muscle, but this will only have a minimal effect on the saggyness of the breast.  Plastic surgery is really the only option for someone who wants pre baby breasts, and personally I'm not vain enough to even consider this.  our bodies age and change as we get older anyway, even without having babies, and I wish people would learn to accept this (are you listening Jackie Stallone!??).