Nipple Piercing and Breastfeeding: Possible? Yes.

Q: Can I breastfeed with pierced nipples?

nipple and mammary gland diagram
Well, maybe and maybe not. Multiple milk ducts pass through each of your nipples, and some of them are bound to be damaged when you poke a hole through there … how many and how badly depends on a number of factors: how many milk ducts you have to begin with; how large your nipples are (the larger, the more room you have to work with); what gauge your initial piercing was (the larger, the more potential damage); and finally, how much scar tissue formed while your piercing was healing. It's hard to give a definite answer on this one.

However, nipple piercings are generally done through the areola just behind the actual nipple (or at least they should be), which helps matters greatly. The milk ducts spread out quickly behind the nipple (see diagram at left, caption below), running to mammary glands through out the breast, so there's quite a bit of leeway for a piercing to run through without damaging many of them. In most cases, having a piercing will not stop you from breastfeeding, and some women even report better milk flow after having their nipples pierced.

However, it's generally recommended that nursing mothers remove their piercings while nursing, to reduce the possibility of the jewelry damaging the baby's palate or gums (or possibly coming loose in the baby's mouth). Removing your jewelry the whole time you breastfeed will most likely mean your nipples will need to be re-pierced after weaning, but removing it before every feeding, and reinserting it afterward can cause extra irritation (during a time your nipples will likely be plenty irritated to begin with) … so even if the piercings cause no physical impediment to nursing, they sure can cause a hassle.

The bottom line is that you really won't know how much, if any, trouble your nipple piercings will cause, until you actually begin breastfeeding. But many pierced women have managed to breastfeed before you, so it's almost always do-able.

[Diagram: 1.Nipple 2.Areola 3.Milk Ducts 4.Milk Glands 5.Fatty Tissue]

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