What can you expect for your post-pregnancy breasts?
Read all about it here and join the discussion at the bottom of this article. A lot of new moms (and even dads) share their thoughts on this sensitive topic.
Your Breasts After Baby – What To Expect
My post-pregnancy breasts have changed – is it just me?
After pregnancy, our breasts change. They can get bigger or smaller. Usually flatter and saggier. If we breastfeed, the breasts will most likely first get a lot bigger, but then…
A research study (reference below) where almost 6000 women answered a questionnaire about their postpartum breasts concluded:
A decrease in breast size was reported in 21.8% of the participants and an increase in 35.1%. With regard to the breast stiffness, 66.4% reported a decrease and only 5% reported an increase.
Not all women know that the main changes to the breasts come from pregnancy, not breastfeeding. Only, breastfeeding moms won’t notice the more or less dramatic change until after weaning.
I am sure you have heard that you should love your body after pregnancy – it has been part of creating a miracle. And sure, it has. But the effects on the body, and maybe especially on the breasts and belly, can be really hard to accept (and love!) for many new moms.
Improvement over time
The post-pregnancy breasts can be a very sensitive thing, especially just after pregnancy or after weaning if you breastfeed. The previously full breasts are suddenly very empty and saggy, often small and may be full of stretch marks. Still, research indicates that it is pregnancy rather than breastfeeding that causes all the changes in your breasts.
What to do? Love the situation and be grateful for your baby…? Easier said than done!
Well, one important thing to do is to have some patience. Right after weaning from breastfeeding (or giving birth if formula feeding), the breasts are as saggy as they will ever be (well, for 20 years or so).
But just like the extra skin on your belly will slowly disappear, your breasts are also likely to get a bit of their pre-pregnancy appearance back. The extra skin slowly diminishes and in many cases, fatty tissues will to some extent start filling out your breasts again.
However, to what extent your post-pregnancy breasts will go back to their pre-pregnancy look, is related to genetics, skin elasticity and amount of weight gain. Smoking and lots of sun exposure have also been shown to be harmful to skin elasticity.Read about the connection between saggy breasts and pregnancy and breastfeeding here.
My own experience is that it took up to six months after weaning or giving birth before the breasts returned to some sort of pre-pregnancy look. It also depends on how fast you reach your pre-pregnancy weight. So patience is one thing. The other is to fix what is possible.
Fixing Stretch Marks
Many women get stretch marks on their breasts during pregnancy since the breasts grow so much bigger. Have you tried using a good stretch mark cream?
If you don’t feel like just sitting around waiting for improvement, you can give time a little bit of help. Don’t expect miracles, but there are a few proven options to reduce stretch marks somewhat:
- Needling. Sounds terrible don’t you think?! Iäve tried it on my face for melasma and it worked really well. It is proven to work for any type of scars too, including stretch marks. Your best bet is to visit a saloon for it, but there are home treatment options too. Make sure to read up carefully on how to use them!
- Creams and oils to reduce the stretch marks. These are usually not as effective, but there are some with proven results.
Exercising
Doing pushups may not improve the appearance of the actual breasts, but by strengthening the muscles behind the breasts, it can give your bust a slight lift. (And will be great for your back and shoulders too, of course.) For more tips on exercising after pregnancy, read this article.
Beautiful Bras
Pamper yourself with nice underwear. This might seem like really stupid advice, but it is so easy to forget yourself when having a new baby. A really good push-up bra can make you feel content at least with your clothes on. If you breastfeed, you can find tips on choosing the right nursing bra here.
Accept it (Sigh!) or fix it…
Coping with the rapid changes of your post-pregnancy body is hard! And honestly, not everything about your body will go back to “normal”. Our best option is to fix what we can and want and try to accept the rest. Walking around feeling miserable over something that just can’t be changed is so self-destructive!
Give it 6 months, do some exercising and try a stretch mark cream and hopefully, your breasts have improved enough for you to be able to accept them! If not, you can also consider if some kind of breast augmentation is the right choice for you.
Now, how did your breasts change after pregnancy and how do you feel about it? Share your thoughts below!
More about the post-pregnancy breasts and body
There are very many comments to this article with moms (and dads) commenting on their breasts post-pregnancy. The newest comments, are way down the post, including the possibility to add your own comments!.
Research references
Rauh C, Faschingbauer F, Haeberle L, Jud SM, Heusinger K, Fasching PA, Goecke TW, Rajakaruna N, Voigt F, Bani MR, Lux MP, Renner SP, Loehberg CR, Hartmann A, Schulz-Wendtland R, Beckmann MW, Bayer CM. Factors influencing breast changes after pregnancy. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2013 May;22(3):259-61. doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0b013e328359cb81. PMID: 23022745.
Rinker B, Veneracion M, Walsh CP. The effect of breastfeeding on breast aesthetics. Aesthet Surg J. 2008 Sep-Oct;28(5):534-7. doi: 10.1016/j.asj.2008.07.004. PMID: 19083576.
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Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing is based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians that you find here. They write or review all health-related articles.
So I read mostly all of the comments, and I want to tell everyone my experience. I have 3 children ages 4, 2, and 1. With my first child I went from 140 to 200 pounds. My boobs went from a C (36C) cup to an F (38) cup. They were Huge and I couldn’t wait for them to go back down. With my second and third child they only went to a 36DD, but I never wanted big boobs so I still could not wait for them to go back down. My youngest son will be 1 soon and I have to say that I am totally unhappy with my boobs. My husband has no issues, and says I am silly to want surgery, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. They look just like all the descriptions (deflated). I do not want implants but I would love a breast list. Something like a tummy tuck, but for the breast. If I had the money, I would do it. Sometimes its not about what everyone else says, but how you feel about yourself, and I do not feel sexy. I am not 140lbs and I am 5’5 and I want to gain wait so I can fill up my boobs, lol. Anyway, I just wanted all the women to know your not alone, and just to find ways to pamper yourself, and if you have the money.. fix it!! I know I would, and wouldn’t feel bad about it!!Far as time, it has been a year, and they are still the same, deflated. On the other hand, my sister has a 8 year old and a 4 year old and hers look perky and stayed a 34C after her 4 year old instead of her original 34B. Yup I’m jealous.
keeping the faith
Lynda
I feel so compelled to write this due to all the negative comments. I was a 34B before I got pregnant with twins. I gained over 100lbs with them, had pre-eclampsia, and got stretch marks everywhere. I breastfed and pumped for y kids for nine months. I weaned very very very slowly because I heard that helped the sagginess. My boobs were very big while breastfeeding. I weaned over about a two month period and at the end I was pumping just once a day. After completing breastfeeding, I loved my boobs! They were fuller and very nice I thought. I went back to a full 34B, had some stretch marks but they faded and were barely bothersome. I had absolutely no problem with the way my breasts looked after a pregnancy and breastfeeding. I am now pregnant again and hoping for the best. But just know it doesn’t all have to be bad news for boobies!!!!
I have the challenge of always having large breasts (I was a 42DD prior to my pregnancy and only went up to a 44DD during my pregnancy – thank goodness) but I’ve notice that since the birth of my child (I didn’t breast feed) that my breasts (that were always firm are now like mush). I’ve always had stretch marks on my breasts so that I’m not worried about but the lack of any type of firmness bothers me.
For what it’s worth, I love my wife’s post-pregnancy body. You are all beautiful!
Please, all you women who are unhappy with your now fully-developed breasts (fully developed, as in post-baby they no longer look like when you were a teenager).
Please realize that many, many men LOVE the look of softer/saggier breasts. In fact many PREFER them that way.
Consider this, when your husband/boyfriend was 13 or 15 or perhaps even 19, he probably had a very smooth face and little or no beard. Now, at perhaps age 25 or 30 or 35, he has stubble a few hours after shaving (five o’clock shadow). Do you have a big urge for your guy to have total electrolysis of his face, so that he can look 15 again? Probably not. Some men have more hair on their backs or chest at 30 than at 15 or even 20. My voice is much deeper than when my wife and I started dating in high school. Should I have voice box surgery to sound like I did when we had our first date? Get my point?
Most women don’t want their husbands to look 16 again, and most men don’t want their wives to either, and especially when it comes to their breasts. Saggy breasts, fully-developed breasts, nice-and-soft breasts, or whatever one calls them, is what MOST women have after childbirth, even in their early 20s! They are not over-the-hill. They are beautiful, and they don’t look like they did in junior high or high school, and neither do their husbands!
As a husband who thinks that women look BETTER after childbirth, a man who loves his wife’s fully-developed breasts (call them soft, call them saggy, or whatever you want), I say “celebrate your beautiful fully-developed breasts.”
Further, I need to mention size. Chances are your hubby loved your breasts back when they were smaller and you were first dating, perhaps back in high school. And he will love them if they go from an A or B to a D and back to an A or B, after childbirth. Sorry to be blunt, but if pressed to tell the truth, most guys will admit that anything bigger than what fits in his mouth is just something extra, and that something extra, well, they may or may not find that preferable (some people like blue eyes; some like brown eyes; most don’t care!) Get my point? Men love breasts, period. Size and shape aren’t nearly as important as some women think. Trust me on this one, and I’ll admit I’m a “breast man,” as most men are. Talk to men about this.
Having dangerous surgery in order to try to look like a teenager is as mis-guided as beard electrolysis or voice-box surgery. Surgical alternation of your natural beauty is not an improvement, not to the overwhelming majority of men.
Women, mothers, wives, women over 20, women over 30, LOVE YOUR BREASTS, and realize that many, many men think your breasts look great, and BETTER than they did when you were 17.
Thank you for reading. That’s my two cents worth. Peace and happiness be with you.
Signed, -A man who has a deeper voice than he did in high school, and has a wife whose figure has, in his opinion, improved with age. :-)
This was one of the worst comment threads I’ve ever read! Your body went through a great effort to produce a human being and some of your men have the audacity to complain about your body changes? Even if none of us had kids, our boobs would still deflate and sag. Our breasts do not equal our worthiness. My husband loves my soft, saggy, deflated breasts and says my stretch marks are beautiful all because they mean my body created life, and ladies, he’s my second husband, not even the biological father of my kids. Your men should be honoring you, not ridiculing or shaming you.
Wow… Yesterday I celebrated 2 weeks of not breastfeeding my 21 month old and as I looked in the mirror I actually started to ball. I had gone from 36 D pre prego, to DD when breastfeeding. Now I can hardly fill a C. My mother is bigger then me now and she breastfed 3 kids.
Reading this artical gave me a bit of hope that maybe one day my deflated balloons will look “normal” again.
Glad to know that I am not alone! I thought I was the only one who looked in the mirror and felt like crying. I raise my arms and up and there is nothing on my chest but nipples and stretch marks. I put my arms down and just saggy pieces of skin. I think I will have to go get my boobs done!
I have two amazing healthy sons 4 and 1 years old. My breast went from sexy full b cup to sad A’s. My husband is so loving and understands my frustrations with my boobies but says he loves them and he thinks they are beautiful. A man that isn’t like this is a pig and doesn’t love you.
I did go to a consult for plastic surgery but it was too expensive and dangerous plus my job is really physical. So I went to Victoria’s secret and got the miraculous double gel bra 50-60 bucks. Girls this is the bra you want, except buy your size that’s the trick to get your boobs to look like their spilling out the top. When I wear this bra I feel sexy although I feel weird when my husband tries to actually feel me up but he can touch the tops of my boobs lol.
I hate going braless and can’t wait to put it back on after my shower. Tanning also helps your appearance. Good luck and God bless
Hi there. I have just one more problem to add to the post baby booby problems. I was a 34DD before pregnancy and got to be a 38F while breast feeding. Luckily my boobs didn’t shrink after breastfeeding but they are a bit droopier. My main embarassment comes from the fact that with the stretched skin came larger pores filled with tiny blond hairs. It seems as though the peach fuzz all over our bodies incfeased in that perticular area for me.
My son is 3 now and I still find myself tweezing the extra fuzz. My husband doesn’t notice, but i do and it drives me crazy!
I can’t even get a spray tan because the solution seems to pool in the pores so I end up with a bunch of dark looking freckles just on my cleavage,and with 34DD’s there’s a lot of cleavage.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Has anyone of you tried to inject yourself with oestradiol valerate ( PROGYNON DEPOT)?
I just stopped weaning my second child about three weeks ago and I am going through the same thing. I hate this part, but I will say that I feel a little more confident now because with my first child after about six months after weaning my breasts did get more dense again…a little more saggy than before, but nothing a good bra couldn’t fix.
I feel like this time around it will get better with time as well…in the meantime, get yourself a bra that has some enhancing features until your breast get back to normal…your breasts will come back! Just give it time… :0) Good luck!
My son is now 14 months old and I thank God for him every day. But I have to tell you, I am so self-conscious about my breasts.
I went from a B cup to a DD when my milk came in. I almost fell over when the lactation consultant measured me for a nursing bra. Now, I can’t even look at myself in the mirror, my breasts are smaller with stretch marks, the best word to describe them is deflated.
I can’t even fill my 34B bra anymore, though I haven’t had the heart to try on a 34A. I was never a “boob” person, but I’m going on 33 years old and finding myself wondering about implants, which surprises the hell out of me because surgery in general scares the daylights out of me.
Yep this is me too….and while I find that push-ups do lift the area a bit they are at best …deflated. I have never ever considered surgery because I am happy with what god gave me but I will say that now more than ever I would love implants or to at least get pregnant again and this time not breastfeed to get my breasts back….
Hi there!
I think this is probably one of the hardest parts of the post-pregnancy changes the body goes through… And I can totally relate to the feeling of suddenly starting to actually consider implants.
Just a quick note on the comment about avoiding breastfeeding; It doesn’t help. There are now two studies that have been done on this subject, and both give the same result; it is the pregnancy not the breastfeeding that causes the breasts to become saggy.
You can read about the saggy breast research here.
Cheers,
Boobpop serum has done wonders for me. After having my son my breast were no longer the same. When i first applied the serum i felt a tingle and throughout the day somewhat of a soarness. I knew it was working. I was so excited and i still am about the results that are to come. Its been two weeks and my breasts fill heavier/fuller. You have to give it a try.
Well, I have always had large breasts. I was a large C small D cup before I got pregnant when I got pregnant. I was unable to wear normal bras so I turned to sports breasts during my pregnancy tho they got bigger. They went up to D and DD now they are still DD and my daughter is 2. I did not breastfeed but they are still quite flat. I try to wear a sports bra all the time now as to before I did not always want to wear a bra but now I feel I need to wear one all the time I like the genie bra brand and wear the biggest size they have I don’t always feel weird or that they are ugly now men that I have been with never cared and always told me they loved them but I hate them so your all not alone
Really?! Why do you say that? Being sad because a part of your body was very much changed to the worse during pregnancy is not at all the same as not being able to feel love and warmth for your children. I think I understand where you are coming from – that if a person can’t accept and love his or her own appearance, that person is likely to be envious and hateful towards anyone more beautiful; like Snow white’s stepmother, but really, I think you’re drawing far strong conclusions here – at least regarding the vast majority of moms!
To be honest, since we are all older than our children, we will by our society’s definitions, all be uglier, and most parents love their children more than life anyway. :-)
But even if stated in a too harsh way in my opinion, your comment does raise an interesting point – it IS difficult to be satified with a body that looks very different from the ideals of our time. How can we still make our children – both sons and daughters feel that they are beautiful just the way the are, when subcontiously, and sometimes even explicitly, we send the message that looking in this or that way is not good enough. Not easy.
So thank you for your comment, even if I would prefer a nicer tone in the future. ;-)
could I please find one comment where someone tells herself and others that “IT IS OK TO HAVE PETITE BREASTS!” Shame on the media for making us feel ashamed of our bodies, especially after what its been through :( WE ARE AL BEAUTIFUL REGARDLESS OF SIZE! You all just gave birth- the one thing we can do that men can never. So having petite breasts does not make us any less of a woman.
I agree, Irene! Very good point!!
Agree. Being 110lb, 32A before and after both pregnancies, never ever wanted to consider plastic surgeries! Always enjoyed being real and natural, despite all these media propaganda… Loosing 2” of my height to 5’6 does make me feel sad sometimes, but overcomes with a joyous reminder of having two wonderful daughters, whom I got to love a lot through some loss…