Breast augmentation is one of the most demanded operations within the branch of Aesthetic Surgery, but what happens when a woman with breast implants becomes pregnant?
Breast prostheses and pregnancy
During pregnancy and subsequent lactation there is an increase in the volume of a woman’s breast, which sometimes changes its shape. It should be noted that these changes can occur whether the woman is wearing prostheses or not.
There is great individual variability in the way these changes occur and their subsequent modification of the shape of the breast, being the type of skin that the patient has what protects or not of these changes. It is generally assumed that breast implants may protect from shape changes after pregnancy and lactation by acting as a support or “internal pillar” to hold the mammary gland in place so that it does not fall. At this point, we should clarify that this may make sense especially when the implants are placed under the muscle, since the weight of the implant does not fall so much on the skin of the breast.
Another interesting point to note is that the number of pregnancies also affects the subsequent sagging of the breast. The breast tends to hold in a first pregnancy if the patient has breast prosthesis, but logically there is a greater tendency for the breast prosthesis to fall with subsequent pregnancies. In these cases in which the breast falls, the prosthesis remains in place adhered to the pectoral muscle and below it, being the mammary gland the one that slides over the implant downwards, being necessary in these cases to reintervene the patient, relocating the areola in a higher position.