Cohort Study to Assess the Impact of Breast Implants on Breastfeeding

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of breast implant surgery and its approaches on lactation by comparing women with and without breast implants at the time of childbirth. Between April of 2013 and July of 2014, in Rosario (Sanatorio de la Mujer and Centro Quirúrgico Rosario), Argentina, a prospective cohort study of women with and without breast implants was performed. Of a total of 3950 births that occurred during this period, 200 patients with similar anthropometric characteristics (maternal and newborn) were selected. Breastfeeding (exclusive or mixed) was compared with artificial feeding at 24 and 48 hours and 30 days in both groups, and the type of incision was also compared. Breastfeeding at 30 days showed a nonsignificant trend favoring the control group (OR, 7.39; 95 percent CI, 0.92 to 339.2). The percentage of women with implants who succeeded in establishing breastfeeding (exclusive or mixed) was very high (93 percent). In the control group, 99 percent of the women were breastfeeding at 30 days. In a comparison of the submammary and areola incision, breastfeeding showed odds ratios of 0.78 (95 percent CI, 0.33 to 1.87) at 24 hours, 1.10 (95 percent CI, 0.48 to 2.56) at 48 hours, and 0.18 (95 percent CI, 0.36 to 1.82) at 30 days. This study shows that most patients with breast implants were able to establish breastfeeding. However, there is a higher number of women without implants that established exclusive breastfeeding. No significant difference was found between the different surgical approaches. Therapeutic, II.