The impact of breast augmentation on breast feeding in primigravida women - A cohort study

Breast augmentations are among the most common interventional cosmetic procedures performed nowadays, but scarcity of data exists on its effects on breastfeeding. Our aim was to evaluate whether breast augmentation adversely affects breastfeeding.

A retrospective cohort study using database of a 2.3-million-member state mandate health maintenance organization (HMO). We identified primigravida women with a singleton pregnancy who delivered between the years 1998-2016, at gestational age of >34 weeks of gestation. Study group included women with breast augmentation surgery, which compared to control group of women who did not undergo breast augmentation. The primary outcome was documentation of any breastfeeding during the first three months postpartum.

Overall, 14,919 women were included, of them, 3913 and 11,006 women with and without breast augmentation, respectively. Women with breasts augmentation were younger (29.8 ± 3.6 years vs. 30.9 ± 4.0 years, p < 0.001), had lower pre-pregnancy BMI (25.2 ± 5.0 vs. 26.36 ± 5.0 Kg/m², p < 0.001), belong to higher socioeconomic status level and less religious communities. Breastfeeding rates in the study group were lower as compared to controls (70.7% VS 85.1%; p < 0.0001), with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.42(95% CI: 0.38-0.461). Maternal diabetes mellitus and advanced maternal age were associated with a lower likelihood of breastfeeding (95% CI:0.45-0.78, p-value < 0.0001), while belonging to religious communities were associated with higher breastfeeding rates (95% CI: 1.34-1.99, p-value < 0.0001).

Women with breast augmentation tend to breastfeed less than women without breast augmentation, during the first three month of postpartum.