Hollywood Mama Says Implants Made Breastfeeding Impossible
By Jacqueline Tourville
Donna Martin really has learned a thing or two since her days at West Beverly High, especially when it comes to the unforeseen consequences of breast implants. In a new interview with Good Morning America, former Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling says that she regrets the breast augmentation surgery (aka “boob job”) she had in her 20s. Back then she had thought larger breasts would make her a sexier, more desirable actress. Now a mom of two with a third on the way, Tori reports that implants are no longer important for her self image–and may have seriously hampered her ability to breastfeed.
“Well, I got my boobs done…in my early 20s. If I had known that it would or could possibly impact production of [breast] milk, I wouldn’t have had them.”
“Well, I got my boobs done…in my early 20s. If I had known that it would or could possibly impact production of [breast] milk, I wouldn’t have had them,” Tori told GMA’s Juju Chang. Spelling, who stars in the hit reality series, Home Sweet Hollywood, with husband Dean McDermott and the rest of her brood, also had the very grown up realization that being a mom means much more to her than her current cup size. “I love being a mom. I am on my third baby. We want to have more,” she said. “That’s my role… these don’t matter.”
Implants and Breastfeeding
Is Tori correct? Do breast implants make breastfeeding and breast milk production more difficult? The answer seems to be depend on how the plastic surgery is performed.
“The overwhelming majority of women who have breast implants can breastfeed whether they’re using silicone or saline implants, but where the implant is inserted has everything to do with [her ability to produce breast milk],” said Dr. Stephen Greenberg, board certified plastic surgeon and author of the book A Little Nip, a Little Tuck, in an interview with ABC News.
This may be a little TMI for some, but if you think implants and motherhood are both be in your future, this next bit is important: talk to your doctor about where the incision for the implant will be made. During an augmentation, surgeons often make the incision around the nipple because it’s right where the pigment of the skin changes and the scar is not as noticeable.
The problem when you become a mom? All the milk ducts that drain the different sections of the breast convene there. “If you avoid a nipple incision and instead put the implants under the breast crease–a procedure called an inframammary incision–or if you put the implants under the muscle of the chest wall, the majority of patients do not have a problem breast feeding,” said Greenberg.
Thanks for the anatomy lesson, Ms. Martin!
