[Successful breastfeeding after reduction mammaplasty].
To determine if it is possible to successfully breastfeed after reduction mammaplasty with intact continuity between papilla and glandular tissue. Retrospective by use of a written questionnaire. Between 1986 and 2000, 994 women under the age of 35 underwent a reduction mammaplasty at the Medical Centre in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. They were all sent a questionnaire of which 585 were completed correctly and returned. Of the 585 women, 215 had had one or more children and 90 had started breastfeeding, 57 of whom were successful (63%). In non-operated women this figure is 69%. The advice to try to breastfeed was associated with a higher percentage of success than the advice not to try--78% and 42% respectively. It appears to be justified to encourage women who have had a breast reduction to attempt to breastfeed after the birth of a child.