# Um..., do 'flat' chested women have difficulty breast feeding? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158 "2004-07-02T02:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/1 "2004-07-02T02:24:15Z")
I’d be glad to hear annecdotal evidence as either a first hander or a person close to someone who has experienced this. Not sure what constitutes flat. Maybe anything less than a B cup? I shall re-word the question in a more proper manner. Do women of A cuppedness have a problem keeping up with nursing or do such smaller women make up for their smallish breasts by producing at a higher rate, whereas a larger woman could store more and would not have to go into production mode as often? I may as well state the reason for my inquiry. A self admittedly smallish breasted co-worker has become pregnant and she expressed some concern over the matter when asked if she would breast feed the newborn. A proxy thanks to those who respond. I intend to summarize the responses and forward them to her in a verbal manner. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/2 "2004-07-02T02:29:59Z")
I am by no means an expert at women’s health issues, but I recall being taught in medical school that the milk producing equipment is essentially the same from woman to woman and the size of the breast is more dependent on the extraneous fat that accounts for a majority of the size of a [non-lactating] breast. The milk producing equipment being the nipple, lactiferous ducts, etc. I was trying to think of a good analogy to another part of anatomy… I suppose one could say that human brains are all about the same size, but head size can vary greatly. Let me see if I can go find a cite for either of these conjectures. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/3 "2004-07-02T02:35:29Z")
Ooops, what am I thinking? This is IMHO…although it actually could be GQ since there is a factual answer. From Zembo CT - _Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am_ - 01-MAR-2002; 29(1): 51-76 > [@](#): > > Assure patient that breast size does not affect milk production. Amount of adipose tissue determines breast size ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/4 "2004-07-02T02:40:58Z")
While I’m at it here’s the other one… From: Bartholomeusz HH - _Neuropediatrics_ - 01-OCT-2002; 33(5): 239-41 > [@](#): > > Abstract: > OBJECTIVE: To quantify the relationship between brain volume and head circumference from early childhood to adulthood, and quantify how this relationship changes with age. METHODS: Whole-brain volume and head circumference measures were obtained from MR images of 76 healthy normal males aged 1.7 to 42 years. RESULTS: Across early childhood, brain volume and head circumference both increase, but from adolescence onward brain volume decreases while head circumference does not. Because of such changing relationships between brain volume and head circumference with age, a given head circumference was associated with a wide range of brain volumes. However, when grouped appropriately by age, head circumference was shown to accurately predict brain volume. Head circumference was an excellent prediction of brain volume in 1.7 to 6 years old children (r = 0.93), **but only an adequate predictor in 7 to 42 year olds.** CONCLUSIONS: To use head circumference as an accurate indication of abnormal brain volume in the clinic or research setting, the patient’s age must be taken into account. With knowledge of age-dependent head circumference-to-brain volume relationship, head circumference (particularly in young children) can be an accurate, rapid, and inexpensive indication of normalcy of brain size and growth in a clinical setting. Emphasis mine I was wrong about brain volumes being fairly consistent, but the fact remains that head size is not necessarily indicative of brain size in adults. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/5 "2004-07-02T02:42:16Z")
Well, my best friend is an A cup and she had no problems breast feeding. I’m a D-DD cup and also had no problems. We both breast fed our kids (born 3 wks apart) about 6 mos with no problems. OTOH, my cousin’s wife, a D cup, had a terrible time breast feeding. It just didn’t work for her. It was sad becuase stupid people would come up to her and ask why she wasn’t breast feeding since she was “so well equipped”. I’m pretty sure size has nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/6 "2004-07-02T02:43:42Z")
My sister is an A cup and a copious milk producer. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/7 "2004-07-02T02:44:19Z")
Cool, so far so good. Do smaller women need to produce at a more constant rate than larger women who can store more in their tissue? Or does it not get stored in tissue? IOW, is the milk fed directly to the baby from the producing ducts and not stored in the tissue? I was under the impression that storage was possible in larger women and it might be used as a buffer between production cycles. ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/8 "2004-07-02T02:55:52Z")
A/B cup before pregnancy here; D cup while lactating. Milk is produced on demand, not stored in the breasts. Your system gets used to producing and if the baby does not nurse when you are ready it gets quite painful surprisingly quickly. Even when I was engorged, my son would empty that out within the first ten minutes, but continue nursing for up to forty-five minutes. Look at our cousins the great apes, who have truly flat chests but manage to feed their babies just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/9 "2004-07-02T03:11:36Z")
Another barely B cup anecdotal…no problems with sustained lactation for 4.5 years now. Both my sons were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months despite my lack of endowment. In fact, my only real problems with nursing were oversupply issues. [Here’s](http://www.007b.com/breast_size_breastfeeding.php) a site that explains the anatomy of a lactating breast pretty well. And at least one official answer to your question about size=storage: > [@](#): > > Secondarily, the research of Peter Hartmann has shown that the milk storage capacity varies a lot between women. Breast milk is produced continually and it accumulates in the milk ducts between feedings. During feeding, a baby typically empties about 70-80% of the milk in the breast. Hartmann found in his studies that some women had 3 times as big a storage capacity than others - but that all of them produced the same amount of milk over a 24-hour period. In general, bigger breasts of course would have a bigger storage but it was noted that breast size was not always a good predictor of production or storage capacity. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/10 "2004-07-02T03:22:54Z")
LadyVor, who was slightly smaller than a B cup before pregnancy, had to pump exclusively for the first week, due to baby health issues (which have since completely resolved themselves). She wanted to make sure and build up her supply, so she pumped every four hours without fail until the production dropped. By the end of the 4th day, she was pumping enough out for the entire NICU. The leftover frozen “daddy bottles” lasted for 3 months. She also topped out around a DD cup, but has retreated back to a C. -lv ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/11 "2004-07-02T03:24:26Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > She wanted to make sure and build up her supply, so she pumped every four hours without fail until the production dropped. I worded that wrong. When pumping, you can always get a few more drops out because the breast is constantly producing milk. I meant to say that she stopped the pumping session once the output was down to a couple drops. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/12 "2004-07-02T05:18:50Z")
If your coworker is feeling concern over this, she should definitely go see a lactation consultant. The facts, as presented in this thread, should reassure her, but being physically examined by a lactation consultant will go even further in putting her mind at ease. And as knowledgable as obstetricians any neonatal nurses may be, they are no match for a gen-yoo-ine lactation consultant. I think most hospitals have one on staff. She should easily be able to get into contact with one and ask her how to get a consultation. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/13 "2004-07-02T07:48:37Z")
In addition to what’s already been said, it’s actually easier for a baby to get a good hold on a small-to-medium sized breast than a very large one. I swelled up to somewhere beyond D for the first few days with both of my babies, and had to make sure to position them so the poor little things could breathe! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/14 "2004-07-02T11:23:50Z")
D cup who had horrible issues with milk production. Ample breasts does not translate into “next career move will take me to the dairy barn.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/15 "2004-07-02T11:46:08Z")
My understanding is that Big Breasts do not equal Large Milk Storage. Apparently there’s just enough stored milk to get the infant started, after which production takes over and keeps up with demand. According to Desmond Morris, large breasts can actually _interfere_ with nursing. As with all things Morris, I think this should be taken with caution. But he does claim that wjhat we would see as flat-chested primates have absolutely no trouble providing adequate milk. Humans are the Big Boobed Apes (among our many other attributes), and I’m on record on this Board as endorsing the view that big breasts are mainly as sex signals for males. They work that way for me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/16 "2004-07-02T13:24:28Z")
My SIL is _completely_ flat-chested. She produced plenty of milk for her two sons, and could pump 8 oz. in under 10 minutes. This is awe-inspiring to me, since the most I could ever pump in 10 minutes was 2 oz. and I’m a solid C-cup. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/17 "2004-07-02T13:52:04Z")
Mrs. Kunilou was a AA cup and nursed twins without any problem. Next question? ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/18 "2004-07-02T14:46:34Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > D cup who had horrible issues with milk production. Ample breasts does not translate into “next career move will take me to the dairy barn.” Same here. Ample to the eye doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles with nursing. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/19 "2004-07-02T23:03:18Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Mrs. Kunilou was a AA cup and nursed twins without any problem. > > Next question? My A cup wife also nursed twins, as well as our other three children, with no issues. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158/20 "2004-07-02T23:24:15Z")
My friend who had nearly A cups had enough milk. When her son was in the NICU she fed him and 2 other preemies IIRC. Her children seemed to have no trouble latching on and always seemed to get enough to eat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-do-flat-chested-women-have-difficulty-breast-feeding/253158.md?page=2)