My mom's had breast tattoos since at least before my brother and sister were born, and probably before I was as well, and all three of us were breast fed. I don't recall her ever having difficulty (and my siblings are much younger so I was old enough to be aware).

If the tattoo is going deep enough to reach the milk ducts, then you have bigger problems.

If the tattoo is going deep enough to reach the milk ducts, then you have bigger problems.

This.

I have friends with nipple rings, and they didn't even interfere with breastfeeding- they just had to take the rings out first. (one even said, comparing her first baby's feeding pre-piercings to the second, that it made things easier). And thats WAY more invasive.

Tattoos, though? No way. If they could you'd also see people having trouble with mobility or something because of them- the bones of the wrist joint, a popular tattoo location, are closer to the surface on most people than anything involved in milk production, for example. It's just the skin, it won't go anywhere near the milk ducts.

I could only see it being an issue if the tattoo became infected and was left untreated- since when one part of my backseam tattoos got infected and the first antibiotics didn't work my ankle did swell up pretty fierce and felt stiff. The uninfected side, though, was 100% normal (and the other side is now, too- the ink just faded a bit where the infection was).

Keep in mind, a cut can go a lot deeper than a tattoo does before it even requires stitches. A tattoo is about as deep as "severe scratch" level. Some people don't even bleed. A baby could do worse damage with those sharp little baby fingernails.

But, on the other hand, breastfeeding can do major damage to a tattoo since the size of your breasts can change so dramatically. It would be the same as any major weight gain after getting inked. The design could have streaks through it, perhaps, where stretch marks formed, and the edges may look choppy. So that's something to keep in mind, too, since once it gets all out of shape it won't go back to how it was before, even after breast feeding, but you'll still have to live with it forever.

Wow--great answer, kelly.

Awesome repsonse above from kellydammit

breastfeeding can do major damage to a tattoo since the size of your breasts can change so dramatically

I just wanted to add that I believe it is pregnancy that causes dramatic breast changes, and not breastfeeding. The breasts change during & after pregnacy whether breastfeeding occurs or not.

yes, the ink doesn't go through far enough to affect either the production of milk or the taste of it!
Some medics generally recommend a period of time after tattooing only to avoid the possibility of an infection being passed to you from a bad practitioner, it's not because the tattoo or ink per se is in any way dangerous for lactation.
So if after 6 months you're healthy you cleary didn't get Hep C or whatever.

But I do wonder about the aesthetic part of it, as the breasts change so much during the pregnancy. I also don't like seeing older women with the kind of creapy skin you get as it ages and as breast tissue naturally decreases who had tattoos when they were full and pert which now look like a used coloured keelex tissue. Have a tattoo that ages well with you in a place the skin doesn't see so much change is my opinion but YMMV

Always a good plan to put a tattoo somewhere that won't suffer from drastic changes such as the breasts or tummy.

have you thought about collarbone tattoos? They hurt like a mofo, but they won't warp over the course of weight changes. (My best friend has sailor jerry style sparrows on hers, and due to a thyroid condition she's gone from size 0 to 18 to 6 since getting them, and they still look good)