Breastfeeding with Low Milk Production After Breast Surgery-Denise
- May 17
- 6 min read
-October 2025
I would like to share my story of breastfeeding after breast surgery.
I had my first surgery just after I finished high school in 2002. My one breast was smaller than the other one and I underwent surgery to make both the same size. The surgeon reduced the larger breast and put implants in both.
In 2017 I consulted a plastic surgeon who told me that one of the implants was leaking and I had to have surgery again. The implants were replaced and they lifted the breasts. I asked the doctor about my ability to breastfeed in the future. The doctor told me that most breast surgeries are done on women before they have had children and that they don't experience problems with breastfeeding.
Our first baby was born in 2018. I had all the hopes of being able to breastfeed her, but our breastfeeding journey didn't last very long. After only a couple of days we thought we had no choice but to give her formula milk from a bottle - and that was very sad for me.
When my second baby was born in August 2024, I was convinced that I would be able to breastfeed her. With our first baby I didn't have any support, but this time was different: I had met Annatjie and Lynette prior to my second pregnancy. They are two wonderful ladies who are both La Leche League Leaders and both became very good friends of mine. I thought that, if I had a better support structure including people who could show me how to do it, I would be able to breastfeed my baby. Surely this time - with Annatjie and Lynette’s support and guidance - my journey would be off to a great start and all would be well... or so I thought.
Our second baby was a healthy little girl, with a birth weight of 4.2 kg. I felt very weak after giving birth, because I had lost a lot of blood. I had colostrum. Yet, after 5 days my baby seemed quite weak and started losing weight. We realised that my milk supply was very little. My daughter started refusing the breast and didn’t want to latch any longer; probably because milk wasn’t flowing when she started to breastfeed. We gratefully got some breast milk that was donated to us by other mommies. We fed this extra milk to our baby with a syringe and feeding tube strapped to my pinky finger.
We tried every position that we knew of to get her to latch, but nothing worked. Finally, Annatjie suggested we try one more position that another Leader, Rahmat suggested to her. She had me in a reclined position and showed me a video where a baby was lying on top of the mommy and basically found the breast by herself. When we tried that, she latched!
So now my baby was latched on and I kept her skin to skin on my chest between feeds. I tried everything I could to increase my milk production, but it remained low. What we did not realise was that some of the placenta had been retained inside my uterus after birth. Whenever that happens, one’s body can think that the baby hasn’t been born yet and therefore won’t go into full milk production. On day 11 the left-over pieces of placenta expelled from my body. We hoped that my milk production would start to increase, but it remained very low.
Yes, there was a slight increase in milk production, but not enough to feed my baby my milk only. It was necessary to still use some supplements. We continued supplementing using the syringes and feeding tube with the donated milk that we received. I did everything I possibly could: lots of skin to skin care, breastfeeding as often as possible, and pumping whenever I could in between.
Annatjie suggested we get a SNS (supplemental nursing system) because, with the syringe and feeding tube, two people are needed. My husband had to go back to work, so we got a SNS hoping I would be able to manage without him. The way it works is as follows: There is a small container with two tubes running through the lid. You fill the container with milk, screw the lid on and stick one of the tubes onto your breast. You let your baby latch on to the breast, with the tube also in her mouth. When you turn the container upside down, milk starts flowing out while your baby breastfeeds. This system helps the baby to stimulate more milk production at the breasts while at the same time getting the supplement.
For the first six months we used donated breast milk with the SNS. We received a lot of milk from donors, and we are truly grateful for the donor mommies who persevered and kept supplying us with their milk throughout those months. On some days when we did not have enough donated milk, we had to top-up with formula milk. After six months we stopped using formula top-ups and switched to goat's milk.
These were the difficulties I remember experiencing:
It was hard that my baby didn't want to latch initially and tough to feed her at my pinky finger. We were so grateful when she eventually did latch on again and was able to feed at the breast with the help of a SNS - that was very good for us!
Many times, while trying to tape it down at the right place where the suction is enough, the little SNS tube slipped from my hands. When it wasn’t taped down properly, the tube would be sucked too deeply into my baby’s mouth and the milk flow would cease.
I also remember a time at around 3 months when my baby would latch on and let go of the breast; latch on and let go. That was extremely tiring for me because she didn't take the breast by herself at that time. I had to help her latch every time, and every feed was very, very tiring. I would say that more than half of her feeds were like that at that stage and it was really exhausting, but we overcame that difficulty.
Another great difficulty for me was when I had to feed in public, for example when we were at our church meeting. There were other mommies who could just breastfeed their babies, but I had to attach the SNS and feed my baby like that. It was a challenge for me to do that, but I just had to overcome it and I did, because that's what we decided to do.
However, after all we went through, the SNS is still working perfectly - I'm so grateful for that! It really looks like it is baby proof.
…And these were the triumphs:
Being able to use the SNS on my own was a big triumph, because at first I thought I would not be able to do it. It seemed very difficult when we got it initially, but now I can feed my baby sitting or lying down and I can even attach the SNS at night in bed - I don't even have to switch a light on! I am so grateful that I could learn how to use it and, of course, to be able to breastfeed. I think that's the biggest thing I have accomplished through all of this.
My baby is now one year old and we are still feeding with the help of a SNS. I still have milk, but my milk supply never really increased a lot. I have enough milk to soothe my baby when she is crying or whenever she needs, and then when she's actually hungry or wants to nap, I attach the SNS and feed her like that.
If it wasn’t for the support and help of the La Leche League Leaders and their kind words, I don’t think I would have been able to do this. The love from all the mothers who donated breast milk also kept me going. My husband and family supported me always and especially during the more challenging days. I remember Annatjie told me that there's a book entitled “Defining your own success”. Initially I didn't quite understand what she meant, but now I do understand: it is possible to feed your baby after breast surgery; you just have to define your own success. I do hope that our story will encourage moms with low breast milk supply, and that they will know that they, too, can overcome. Finally I want to say that I did not do this in my own strength! The Word of God says that we can do all things through Christ, Jesus, who strengthens us. All the glory to Him!
-Denise
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