The most important question to follow is: Can you get a tattoo when breastfeeding?
Tattoos are a fun and creative method to express your feelings, hobbies, and values.
In most cases, they leave permanent imprints on your skin because they are a type of body art.
The well-being of their infant comes first for new moms.
When pregnant or breastfeeding a newborn, new moms will exercise extreme caution in all they do and in all of their lifestyle decisions.
To commemorate this unique time in their lives, however, some new mothers would like to acquire a tattoo.
Let’s thoroughly examine the pros and cons of getting a tattoo while nursing.
Is It Safe To Get A Tattoo While Breastfeeding?
Some expecting or new moms might wonder if any tattoos they currently have would interfere with their pregnancies or nursing.
Pre-existing tattoos often don’t affect pregnant or newborn infants.
One worry is that the ink would get into the milk supply.
However, it’s quite unlikely that the ink would get from the parent’s bloodstream into the breast.
Although ink tends to degrade in the body in the months and years following tattooing, there is still some uncertainty over whether it may migrate into breastfeeding.
It’s crucial that expecting and nursing moms postpone getting tattoos for this reason.
Safety While Getting A Tattoo
On the topic of getting a tattoo while nursing, there are differing views.
Neither a regulatory authority nor a medical association prohibits breastfeeding women from having tattoos.
Furthermore, no data shows a conflict between nursing and getting a tattoo.
If you’re pregnant or nursing, The Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health recommends against having a tattoo.
If you are breastfeeding, tattoo parlors will not allow anyone to get ink.
Despite the absence of proof, they may be nervous about the prospect of elevated hazards.
They worry about liabilities as well. You might need to sign a legal waiver if you get a tattoo while nursing.
Risk Of Getting A Tattoo While Breastfeeding
Your tattoo artist will use a machine with needles to inject ink into the epidermis of your skin when they tattoo you.
Your skin is punctured by the needles hundreds to thousands of times each minute.
Tattoo ink’s molecular makeup is too big to pass through breast milk.
This indicates that even if the ink does go into your skin, your kid will not be exposed to breast milk.
Only the dermal layer of the skin is reached when the needle is placed.
1. Ink Allergy And Painkiller Sensitivity
- Breastfeeding mothers who take lidocaine run the risk of ink.
- Many tattoo artists use the topical painkiller spray lidocaine while painting.
- This medication may make a baby allergic and has been demonstrated to transfer into breast milk.
2. Pain
- Physiology undergoes major modifications following delivery.
- If the pain threshold rises throughout the gestational period, the body’s status changes oppositely during nursing.
- Therefore, getting a tattoo may feel daunting.
- Additionally, a nursing woman may momentarily impede milk supply following a session.
- This brings on erratic levels of the hormones oxytocin and prolactin, which are in charge of producing milk.
3. Skin Infection
- Due to the body being under more stress when nursing, immunity declines.
- The body direct impacts the tattoo machine needle’s impact on the skin, and an open wound is an easy entry point for bacteria.
- The chance of catching HIV, viral hepatitis, or herpes increases dramatically if the master uses improperly sterilized tools.
- As you are aware, breast milk can transmit HIV.
- Irritation, redness, itching, or pus on or near the tattoo are indications of infection.
4. The Unpredictability Of The Result
- Due to the unpredictable nature of the outcome in the future, getting a tattoo now is not advised.
- Prolactin is the primary hormone that controls milk secretion.
- It aids in the management of the water-salt balance and the initiation of faster metabolic activities.
- As a result, undesirable events like the following may manifest at any moment after the tattoo has healed:
- An abrupt shift in pigment color, such as from dark brown or black to grey or blue.
- The skin’s immune cells start to aggressively oppose the dye as a result of the accelerated metabolism, and the pattern may appear as patches or gaps.
5. Complications After The Tattoo
- Following a tattoo, issues might develop that call for a remedy that could not be suitable for nursing.
- To prevent the loss of milk flow, some medications cannot be used to treat infectious and inflammatory disorders.
Can You Get A Tattoo When Breastfeeding: Safety Tips And Precautions
Here are some crucial safety advice and measures to take if you decide to get a tattoo while nursing:
1. Do Your Homework, And Only Get A Tattoo From A Qualified, Experienced Artist.
- A licensed tattoo artist or parlor should be tidy, practice good hygiene, and utilize sterile tools.
- He should have a current license on file with the neighborhood health department.
- Picking a tattoo artist with years of expertise and a solid reputation is advised.
2. Beforehand, Discuss It With Your Doctor.
It is usually a good idea to discuss the dangers of having a tattoo with your healthcare professional before you decide to get one while nursing.
3. Be careful where you put things.
- The healing process for tattoos can take weeks, and it can be painful.
- Plan your tattoo location taking into account the motions your body must do to care for your child (picking them up, holding them, feeding them).
4. Take good care of your tattoo.
- When your tattoo is complete, your tattoo artist will give you aftercare instructions.
- To prevent any issues, carefully follow these directions.
5. Keep an eye out for any infections in your new tattoo.
- Infection may be indicated by the tattooed region becoming red, excruciating pain, or swelling.
- If you think your tattoo gets infected, get in touch with your doctor right once.
Can You Have A Tattoo Removed While Breastfeeding?
By dissolving the ink in the dermal layer of your skin into tiny particles throughout multiple sessions, lasers may erase tattoos.
These disintegrated particles carry to your liver by your immune system. Then your liver removes them from your body.
Whether such particles can enter your milk supply and be transfer to the infant is not studied.
Wait to get rid of tattoos until after you’ve stopped nursing to reduce the possibility that the infant will consume the ink particles.
It is doubtful that a doctor will consent to the surgery while you are nursing given the ambiguity surrounding the safety of tattoo removal.
Tips To Get A Tattoo While Breastfeeding
Unable to resist the impulse to get a tattoo while nursing? Not an issue. the following advice:
- Avoid having tattoos on the breasts or chest since it could be difficult to care for them while nursing.
- Utilize organic items since they are safer. The intensity of the synthetic colors might vary.
- Existing tattoos will not be an issue unless they are applied in unhygienic circumstances.
- Get a check for your immunity system to ensure there are no infections.
- Before getting a tattoo, make careful to check out the artist and the store. Request additional caution from the artist.
Conclusion on Can You Get A Tattoo When Breastfeeding?
While nursing, getting a tattoo may not be worth the chance of infecting your infant.
Even if you aren’t breastfeeding, you might want to wait a while before getting a tattoo because your body will alter throughout the postpartum period.
Make sure you visit a location that is sanitary and complies with local health requirements if you do decide to get a tattoo.
After that, try to keep your tattoo clean and out of the sun to reduce your chance of contracting an infection that might harm your unborn child.
Wait to get a tattoo until after your child becomes one year old to be on the safe side.
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