To my knowledge, there is no hard and fast answer. The peurperal period is defined by the hormonal changes following the birth and breast feeding of an infant and can last as long as 6 mos. I like to wait 6 months for the vascularity and lactiferous changes in the breast to subside to fascilitate surgery and recovery.
To amandan,
Hi! You want all of your hormones to return to normal, and you want to see exactly what damage to your breasts the pregnancy and breast feeding have caused.
Some women need a small reduction as well as a lift, and others need implants together with a lift. The lift needs to be performed from the inside, without pulling the skin. Otherwise you don't get good long term shape.
Make sure you are not planning to have any more kids. Another pregnancy may undo a lot of the benefit of the lift.
I usually tell my patients to wait between 3 to 6 months after you have stopped breast feeding before an augmentation or breast lift procedure. This is so that your breast tissue has time to undergo the normal involution process that occurs once breast feeding is completed, and for your hormones which have been in flux to get back to normal levels. You will also have time to lose any baby weight that was put on during pregnancy, and as all women know, when we lose weight, we oftentimes lose it in the breasts as well.
Good luck,
Dr. Walden
When the breasts look the same for 2 consecutive months and your weight is stable and in a satisfactory range, then you can consider a breast lift. Just be careful to get the proper lift, as they are not all the same.
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