The purpose of this entry is to try to promote to all woman that you can have nipple piercings and then go on to breastfeed successfully. However, please be careful with who you choose as your piercer. Legally, you do not have to possess any qualifications to do piercings (although most piercers do take extensive courses) so please, please, DO YOUR RESEARCH. I cannot emphasise this enough as some people do experience problems in the future simply because the piercing was not carried out correctly and/or given incorrect after-care procedures. In the same way, if anyone has any queries relating to breastfeeding – please contact your GP/midwife as most piercers aren't trained in this!!
At A Glance Author Sabrina Contact Sabrina@bme.anon When N/A Artist Brian Studio Shamanics Body Art Location Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England I was 16 when I had my first piercing (which, incidentally, was my left nipple), and since then I have had many more. These have included tongue, lip, eyebrow and genital piercings. However, both my nipple bars have remained my personal favourite. I experienced such an intense high when the piercing was complete that I completely ignored the intense pain (once the anaesthetic wore off). For the months that followed, they intensified in sensitivity and increased my sexual adventures. I initially had them pierced for my own pleasure and those readers that do have nipple piercings, will appreciate the hours of fun you can have with them! I also found that my peers and sexual partners were intrigued by them and would spend ages discussing them with me.
When I became pregnant at 17, I knew I wanted to try breastfeeding. So my reaction was to remove not just the nipples but all my piercings and become a "normal" mother. To me, the piercings represented my sexual nature and as a mother-to-be, I started to feel uncomfortable with the mixing of motherhood and sexual fulfilment. I won't lie to anyone – it was the hardest thing about having my son. Losing my piercings was like losing a part of myself – I'd gotten so used to them. All my healthcare professionals were unsure that I could breastfeed but I so wanted to give my son the best start in life. During my pregnancy, I had pre-milk (or colostrum) leaking from the entry/exit points of the piercing. However, my piercer Brian, assured me that as long as I looked after them, the sites would heal and I would be able to feed as I'd planned. I also had some blood oozing out from one side and immediately I thought this was it – I'd caught some terrible infection! However, my GP said that it was fairly normal and nothing to do with the piercings. After my fear subsided, I put my faith (as I had when having the piercings done in the first place) in Brian and tried to be positive about what was ahead.
After the birth, I explained to the midwives about my piercings and that I was concerned I would not be able to feed my baby. They all pitched in and I had a fortnight of daily attention whereby they would monitor me to make sure my son was latched on properly. I experienced the usual trials and tribulations of breastfeeding including sore nipples and mastitis. This is one of the most painful things about breastfeeding – avoid it at all costs! You feel horrible and wish that you'd never started it in the first place. The ironic thing is that the cure for the mastitis is to feed your baby as much as possible to clear the blocked duct! You really don't feel like doing this at the time. However, none of the above was due to the fact I'd had nipple piercings and I can honestly say that I don't regret it. The sore nipples healed when we finally got to grips with the "latching on" and the mastitis went away as quick as it appeared. You could say I've had my cake and eaten it as I had plenty (!) of fun while I had the piercings, and now I'm giving my son the best start in life while I haven't got them.
In fact, I'm back at work and my son is still fully breastfed – at 6 months old! We've had a few giggles about the fact my nipples have gone from sex toys to milk machines and on the whole, it's been great. I just want to put one more myth aside – milk does NOT come out from my nipple bar 'holes'! The nipple is not like a bottle teat and it has holes everywhere so milk sprays out from all over – on all breastfeeding women! When I finally wean him from the breast (lord knows when that will be!), I am confident that I will be able to have my nipples re-pierced successfully. Watch this space and I'm sure I'll keep you posted...