X-Rays and Mammograms for Lactating Women?
October 29, 2006 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under breast milk, breastfeeding basics, cancer, health of the mother, medication
This final installment in the series for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month examines the diagnostic tests that can be run when a woman finds a breast lump through a breast self-exam or a doctor’s exam.
1. X-rays. The radiation used in an x-ray does not affect breast milk and the mother may continue nursing uninterrupted after an x-ray.
2. Mammograms. Mammograms are x-rays of the breast and thus are also safe. However, mammograms are not the most effective tool for screening the breasts of lactating women. Lactating women have dense breast tissue which makes it harder to obtain clear images of the breast. As with a breast self-exam, a woman should nurse or express immediately before a mammogram to drain the breasts as much as possible. Breastfeeding women should consult a mammographer experienced in reading mammograms of lactating breasts, and/or consider other diagnostic tests such as ultrasound.
3. Ultrasound. Ultrasound is safe and compatible with continued breastfeeding. Ultrasounds are more effective than mammograms in determining solid breast lumps as opposed to galactoceles (milk cysts) and abscesses, and can also identify breast implant leaks.
4. CAT scans and MRIs. Even when a test requires the use of a radiocontrast dye, a mother need not interrupt nursing. While the packaging inserts for contrast agents may recommend that a mother refrain from breastfeeding for 24 hours, research shows that this simply is not necessary.
5. Fine needle aspiration. While surgery may be required to determine the nature of a breast lump, sometimes fine needle aspiration can be used to identify a benign cyst or galactocele. The test is relatively painless (one woman described it as similar to a blood draw) and breastfeeding can continue as usual.
6. Biopsy. When a biopsy is necessary, it’s important that a mother choose a surgeon experienced in operating on a lactating breast in order to minimize the cutting of milk ducts. As with lumpectomy and mastectomy, breastfeeding can continue after this breast surgery.
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