Breast Anatomy - Implications For Breast Care

Implications For Breast Care

Since the number of milk ducts in the breast is lower than previously believed, the loss of only a few ducts can seriously compromise a woman’s ability to lactate. In the old model, fatty tissue is undifferentiated. The reality is that there are three clearly defined areas of fatty tissue. There is more glandular tissue than previously believed, concentrated near the nipple, not evenly distributed in the breast.

Surgeons working with an understanding based on Cooper’s model inadvertently put the ability of their patients to breastfeed at risk. Women with previous breast surgery have a greater than threefold risk of lactation insufficiency when compared to those women without surgery. While interference with lactation is a theoretical risk of any surgery on the breast, a number of studies have demonstrated a similar ability to breastfeed when breast reduction/lift patients are compared to control groups where the surgery was performed using a modern pedicle surgical technique.