Is Face/Neck Lipo Safe While Breastfeeding?

Many women stop breast feeding after 6 months but if you plan on continuing for alittle longer then your options are limited.  You can store up your milk for a few days or supplement your stored milk with formula.  The majority of the local tumescent anesthesia is out of your system after a few days so you should be fine to get face/neck liposuction.

although there have been no problems that physicians are aware of reporting complications in babies who are breast fed from mothers who had liposuctions while breast feeding, liposuction is an elective procedure for cosmetic enhancement so infants should not be exposed to unnecessary risk.  Could the adrenaline or lidocaine be secreted in the breast milk and create a toxic effect in the infant? Could there be exceptions even if such a problem would not be foreseen? Wait until your breast feeding is discontinued and then undergo the liposuction.
 

Proceeding with any type of elective procedures under general anesthesia while breastfeeding is not such a good idea. The medication administered during the procedure and also ones used post operatively stay in your system for certain time.   But You definitely could prepare yourself and store milk in your freezer, so you have enough to feed your baby while recovering from the surgery. Be sure to discard pumped milk for at least 24 hours following the surgery. Consult your surgeon and ask question about the medication you need to continue during the recovery time. He will let you know when it is safe to start breastfeeding.  The most important is health of your baby and you  do not want to compromise it in any way.

Others have said it quite well, and I will add my recommendation to theirs--do not expose your baby to any kind of medications or anesthetic drugs that might become part of your breast milk. Sure, you can pump and store, but you can also wait, make sure you are at your ideal post-baby weight, and proceed when you are finished breast feeding.

The fact that you are asking means you are a mom who understands there may well be some concern here. Follow that awareness, and those who recommend you hold off for now--these are the physicians who care about you as a patient rather than as a potential case and income. I know you too may be anxious to proceed, but if you are a good candidate for this surgery now, you will be even more so when you know you are absolutely avoiding any breast milk medication influence on your new baby!

While in all likelihood everything would be fine if you had surgery while breastfeeding, why take any chances?  Is it really that important that you have liposuction at this time?  Please be safe and please consult with a board certified plastic surgeon and please wait until you are done breast feeding.

 

Good luck.

Dear Tinablck in Mississauga: 

Liposuction is an elective procedure, and it needs to be safe and predictable. Elective surgery, unlike emergency surgery, means you can choose when to have it done. With choice comes responsibility. One of the reasons elective surgery is safer than emergency surgery is because we can choose to do it when it is safer. By carefully planning your liposuction, you can eliminate and reduce other hazards and maximize your chances of having no complications. 

The absolute risks of having elective surgery while breast feeding are not know, because no one is going to knowingly take the risk with a large number of women and their breast feeding children. We do, however, know that pregnancy and lactation increase the risks of emergency surgery.

You are going to better served by waiting until you have stopped breast feeding for a few months before having elective surgery. You body will have a chance to get back to a more normal physiology. Your surgery will be safer and more predictable, and that is really what good plastic surgery is all about. No reason to take unnecessary risks, and you'll have fewer unknowns to worry about.

Dear Tinablck, thank you for your question.  Pregnancy and breast feeding can cause changes in your body's metabolism and distribution of fat.  It would be best to have finished breast feeding and your body return to a basline that is stable so that you can be assessed for the proper procedure.

With Warm Regards,

Trevor M Born MD

I recommend having any type of procedure well after you stopped breast feeding completely-make sure you have this done by a board certified plastic surgeon who can give you the best recommendations given your situation. 

I would not recommend surgery if you are still breast feeding.  Complete the breast feeding and then consider surgery.

I can't say I recommend any elective surgery while breast feeding.  The overall hormonal effects on weight loss and gain will be variable.  I would wait until you have stopped breast feeding and then proceed with any type of surgery you desire.  You will always be able to find a doctor who will operate on you.  Try to find the one who recommends what may be best for you even if it may take a little longer to have the procedure.