Hi! I am a nursing student at the Unuversity of North Dakota. I have been doing some research on silicone implants and breastfeeding. I thought there would be some very harmful effects on the infant. I looked in the lactnet archives to see what has been discussed about this issue. After doing my research, I have to agree that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risks of silicone. The JAMA article "Scleroderma Like Esophageal Disease in Children Breast-Fed by Mothers With Silicone Breast Implants" does not have a large enough sample size (n=28) to be significant. I have been looking for replications of this study, but have had no luck. Riordan and Auerbach (1993) noted that women who had previous breast surgery had greater than a threefold risk of lactation insufficiency compared with women who had not had surgery. Mohrbacher and Stock (1997) noted that all women who have breast augmentation surgery develop scarring inside the breasts, and this can cause pain and discomfort when the mother breastfeeds. I am interested to know if anyone has noticed in their practice a greater incidence of insufficiency and pain in women with silicone implants. And also, do women with silicone implants tend to believe that they can not breastfeed until they are informed otherwise? Thank you. Auerbach, K.G. & Riordan, J. (1993). "Breastfeeding and Human Lactation". Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Levine, J.J. & Ilowite, N.T. (1994). Scleroderma Like Esophageal Disease in Children Breast-Fed By Mothers With Silicone Breast Implants. JAMA, 272 (10),770. Mohrbacher, N. & Stock, J. (1997). "The Breastfeeding Answer Book". Revised ed. Schaumburg, IL: La Leche League International.