Does breastfeeding cause breasts to sag?

By Agnes Kyotalengerire

For long Tyra Mirembe, a mother of two, had always bragged about her firm bust. However,  she would not reveal the secret behind her firm bust, until recently. “My method was natural. I did not breastfeed my two babies for fear that my breasts would sag,” Mirembe said.

Her breastfeeding sessions only took place in the hospital, when the nurses and her mother- in-law attended to her.  “I could not do otherwise in their presence, but immediately after I was discharged and my mother- in-law gone, I would introduce the babies to formula milk right away,” she confesses.

 Priscilla Tumuhame, a first-time mother, chose to express breast milk, as opposed to breastfeeding her baby in order to protect her breasts from sagging. “Though I knew that breastfeeding was good for my baby, I was in a dilemma. I still wanted to keep my breasts firm and looking good before my man,” Tumuhame narrates, adding that when she shared with a friend, she was advised to express and bottle feed her baby. 

Another mother, Joan Kimuli, says she gets all sorts of comments from her friends, relatives and neighbours whenever they find her breastfeeding. “Recently, I was shocked when an elderly woman, whom I thought understood the benefits of breastfeeding, advised me to stop.

According to Kimuli, the woman told her that breastfeeding the baby for long would make her breasts sag and her husband would lose interest in her. 

Mirembe and Tumuhabwe’s cases are not in isolation. Many young mothers today have confessed to not breastfeeding for fear of their breasts sagging and have instead chosen to use formula or other supplementary feeds. Their selfish desire to preserve their breasts puts the babies’ health at risk since it is clearly known that breastfeeding is the best gift a mother can give her baby. But the question is; does breastfeeding cause breasts to sag? 

Dr. Charles Kiggundu, a senior gynaecologist/obstetrician at Mulago Hospital, says sagging of breasts is a natural process and it is part of normal body development. “Sagging occurs even in women who have not breastfed,” says Kiggundu.

He  says every woman has a hormone called estrogen, which is responsible for keeping the breast ligaments firm. As a woman grows older, her estrogen levels begin to reduce. In doing so, the body resorts to getting estrogen from the fat deposits around the breast ligaments (threads anchoring the breasts on the chest wall). 

“When the fat eventually gets depleted, the breasts sag,” he explains.

Dr. Josephat Jombwe, a consultant surgeon at Mulago Hospital, says breasts get fully developed during pregnancy. “During that period, ducts where the milk is stored begin to develop, which increase the breast weight. It is that additional weight that eventually causes the breasts to sag due to gravity,” Jombwe says. 

 He adds that breastfeeding a baby does not cause sagging. Irrespective of whether a mother breastfeeds the baby or chooses to express, her breasts will at one point sag because it is part of a woman’s body changes.  

 On the other hand, Kiggundu says the way some mothers breastfeed may cause the breasts to sag. “Some women, when breastfeeding, pull the breast towards the baby, instead of putting the baby on the breast. “Breasts have elastic tissues and when stretched beyond limit, they do not go back to their original size, hence causing sagging,” he explains. 

 Also, the nature of one’s breasts may make them easily sag or not. Dr. Jombwe notes that women with big breasts have a higher risk of having their breasts sag much earlier, compared to those with smaller ones. “Big breasts are usually pulled down by gravity, although keeping the breasts supported, for example, by wearing a bra, may keep them up. However, he warns that a bra may not be a permanent solution because such a mother may not necessarily wear it all the time. 

 Dr. Kiggundu warns that lack of physical exercise is yet another cause. He says regular chest exercises help tone the muscles and firm the bust. 

So while you cannot prevent sagging altogether, you can reduce how much sagging you see quite dramatically.