The Nipple Innovation Project (Known as NiP), a leading charity dedicated to empowering breast cancer survivors through its nipple tattoo services, is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
This collaboration will bring the charity’s expertise to patients at St Luke’s Hospital, which is part of the Trust and will offer realistic 3D nipple tattoos to those eligible.
Nipple tattoos are a transformative procedure for breast cancer survivors who have previously undergone mastectomy surgery. These 3D tattoos restore the appearance of the nipple and areola, promoting a sense of wholeness, body confidence and emotional wellbeing. It is carried out after the breast has had time to heal and is permanent.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NiP, Lucy Thompson, expressed the charity’s “excitement” about the new partnership – its first with an NHS organisation.
She said:
We are incredibly proud to be recognised by Bradford Teaching Hospitals and look forward to establishing this new collaboration with the breast cancer team at St Luke’s Hospital.
This partnership signifies a significant step forward in making realistic and long-lasting nipple tattoo services more accessible to breast cancer survivors within the UK healthcare system.
We believe every breast cancer thriver deserves the opportunity to explore this empowering option and reclaim their body image after treatment.
The service, which was previously carried out by specialist nurses, was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 300 patients are treated for breast cancer in Bradford every year – the majority of whom retain their nipples. Lucy will tattoo the small areas of skin around the nipple, called the areola, onto women who have had breast reconstructions in her studio in Cullingworth.
Breast Cancer Surgeon and Multi-disciplinary team lead, Catherine Tait, said:
We were naturally disappointed when we had to – understandably – pause the clinic temporarily during the pandemic but we are delighted that the breast tattooing service has been restarted again as this new partnership allows us to offer nipple tattoos again as a valuable option for post-mastectomy reconstruction.
At Bradford Teaching Hospitals, we are committed to enhancing the patient experience and nipple tattooing delivers the ‘finishing touch’ for our patients who have had reconstructive surgery after breast cancer.
These tattoos can have a profound impact on a survivor’s emotional wellbeing and body image, and we are delighted to make this service available again within our Trust. The importance of this positive procedure cannot be underestimated for those who have survived breast cancer and undergone reconstructive surgery.