Liposuction and Breast Feeding

The easy answer is that it's best to wait until the completion of breast feeding before undergoing elective surgery.  One concern is that medications given to the patient may be passed to the baby through the breast milk.  Another issue is that the mother's body will likely change after she completes breast feeding.  In cases where a mother is still considering elective surgery while breast feeding, it's reasonable to involve the baby's pediatrician in the planning of medications and timing for discarding breast milk.

As liposuction is not a treatment that is designed to improve a life-threatening disorder, it should not be done during breast feeding as the procedure is elective for cosmetic indicaitons and there is no reason to jeopardize your baby's health.
 

You should not have liposuction while breast feeding. The medications given to you during this procedure may linger in your system for a while.  Why not wait a short while more?

I would not recommend any surgery while you are still breast feeding. It will not be good for you nor your ability to breasrt feed.

In my practice I would delay your liposuction even under local until you had completed your breast feeding. I would not feel it acceptable to do this with any risks to the breast milk. I'm very conservative. 

Liposuction under local only, perhaps smaller areas and volume should not interfere greatly with liposuction. If you are concerned about medication or antibiotics you can pump and discard until your system is clear. Liposuction is not a form of birth control, and pregnancy is quite possible after your procedure so take care.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd

Hi Reemy,

This does not sound like a good idea to me.

Even under local anesthesia there are medications injected into the body.  These typically include lidocaine (which is like novocaine) and epinephrine (which is another name for adrenaline).  Sometimes some other medications are used, such as oral Valium and/or a muscle relaxer.  And afterwards, you may need a pain reliever, including some that are synthetic narcotics (such as Vicodin or Percocet).

NONE of those things are good for your baby!  I'm a big fan of enabling breast-feeding - I try to adapt my surgical procedures (such as breast lifts or reductions, or implants) keeping the potential for future breast-feeding in mind.  So having this procedure while you're breast feeding just does not sound like something that would be helpful to your baby....I doubt you'd want to administer any of these medications directly to your baby!

The next question is how long you would need to wait before resuming breast-feeding, and I would think AT LEAST a few days after you're received your last medication.  You should check with your OB and your medical doctor to get the specifics on this.

So if you're really motivated to have the procedure now, you could always pump (and discard) during the period in question, as long as you are prepared to hold off resuming the breast-feeding until all your docs are comfortable with that amount of time.  It seems a lot to do during an important time, but I understand the desire to get things done in a specific time period.  As long as you are willing to stay within the advised guidelines, it is a decision that sounds do-able.

I hope that this helps, and good luck,

Dr. E

Even if you have nothing but local anesthesia, some of the medication (lidocaine, epinephrine) does get into your blood stream and breast milk.  The levels would likely be low, but why take the risk?

It would be best to wait to have any surgery until after you have finished breastfeeding.  Or at least to just pump your breast for the first two to three days after surgery and toss the breastmilk, giving the baby  formula during that time.

I recommend you wait untill you are no longer breast feeding befor doing liposuction. There should be no problem with further pregnancies because of prior liposuction.

Hi.

1)   Any unnecessary procedure should be avoided until you finish breast feeding.

2)   Board certified plastic surgeons do not do liposuction under just local anesthesia.  You need at least sedation along with the local anesthesia.  The alternative is light general anesthesia, which is equally safe.

3)   You can certainly get pregnant after liposuction.  Based on our experience doing liposuction in New York City, the results of liposuction endure even if you get pregnant after wards.  So it's alright to have liposuction now even if you may have another baby in the future.  Just don't do it until you are done breast feeding.