Breast or Bottle?

The answer’s not so simple if you have breast cancer.

Though you can’t pass cancer to your baby, some of the medicines you might need to treat your condition can be harmful to them

Pump to keep up your milk supply: If you plan to go back to nursing after your treatment ends, it’s a good idea to pump during cancer treatments or before you have surgery. (You’ll have to throw the breast milk away if you’re taking chemo, targeted therapy, or hormone therapy medicines.) Pumping will make your body think you’re breastfeeding, so it’ll keep making milk. Once your treatment or procedure ends, you can breastfeed again.

Most women who breastfeed experience hormonal changes during lactation that delay their menstrual periods. This reduces a woman’s lifetime exposure to hormones like estrogen, which can promote breast cancer cell growth.

In addition, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, you shed breast tissue. “This shedding can help remove cells with potential DNA damage, thus helping to reduce your chances of developing breast cancer.”