According to the Institute of Medicine, any kind of breast surgery, including breast implant surgery, makes it more likely that a woman trying to breastfeed will not have enough milk to breastfeed (lactation insufficiency).
Unfortunately, little is known about the safety of breast milk among women with breast implants. Pediatricians believe the milk is safe, but there is so little research that we don’t know if that is true. Some women believe that their children are sick because of their breast implants, while others think their children were not harmed at all by nursing with implants.
A few years ago, a chemistry professor at American University, Dr. Susan Maharaj, reported finding high levels of platinum in the breast milk of women with breast implants. She also reported that children who had been breastfed by women with breast implants had dangerously high levels of platinum in their bodies. Platinum is used to help make breast implants, but is supposed to be used in very tiny microscopic amounts. Children who had been breastfed before the same mothers got breast implants did not have high levels of platinum.
We are not doctors and we are not providing medical advice, but we can tell you what we know from research and from speaking with many experts and women who have had implants.
All articles are reviewed and approved by Diana Zuckerman, PhD, and other senior staff.