I cringed when I read the description of the woman's nipples being cut away
and left in a dish while the surgeon was busy with other things!
I would not expect this mother to be able to breastfeed because the nerve
supply to her nipples was severed along with the ducts. Without an intact
nerve link between the nipples and the brain, there is no means for the
necessary hormonal release to happen. However, having said that, I'd still
suggest she sees what will happen. Severed nerves and ducts may still have
done a certain amount of healing (against all the "rules" of what may be
reasonably expected!) - she will not know what her personal situation is
until she tries it.

More Australian breast surgeons in recent years have done breast surgery,
especially reduction surgery, with a greater awareness of the importance of
preserving as much physiological function as possible.

After the more invasive, disruptive (physiologically speaking) forms of
breast surgery, (especially reduction) one fairly good indicator of the
competence of the nerve supply to the nipples is nipple sensitivity.
Whatever healing of damaged nerves is going to happen will do so in 6-12
months after surgery. If a woman then has no sensation in her nipples at
all, I see no reason to be optimistic about her breastfeeding prospects.
Some women will tell you that they are aware that they have considerably
less nipple sensation than before, and the luckiest ones will say that there
is just as much sensation in their nipples as before. (Then the limiting
factors will be duct damage and the amount of milk secretory tissue removed
from the breasts.)

Robyn Noble (and Anne Bovey), Brisbane, Australia