Was breastfeeding difficult after a C-Section?

L

louisouis

Registered User
I am planning to have an elective c-section in March and will like to breastfeed my baby. Will be greatful if you can share your experiences with me.

Will the C-section affect the milk supply?
Was it physically difficult to breastfeed after the c-section?
Should I give the baby formulae in conjunction with breastmilk?
Are there anything that I should be aware of when breastfeeding after a c-section?

:flower:
 
i have an emergency c sec and i wanted to BF my baby.i would say it physically very difficult to bf in first week.and if baby started to be fed by bottle its hard to do bf again but best of luck keep your spirits high...
 
first i had an emergency c-section...i ended up doing 50-50 bf and bottle. the nurses made me feel like i couldnt' do it myself.

second i had an elective c-section... i bf EXCLUSIVELY for the first 6 months(except for 2 formula feeds at the hospital). my girl DOUBLED her birthweight by 2 months. she was only 2.47 kgs to start with, so that was very fast.

if you just have the confidence you can do it. i didn't find it difficult at all.

you do realise that your milk doesn't "come in" until around day 4 or so after birth. up until that point, you only produce colostrum. this is VERY beneficial for the baby, but you only produce VERY small amounts. this is NORMAL!

i suggest that you contact La Leche League. they will be able to answer all of your questions. You can even ask them if it is possible for someone to come to visit you in the hospital after the birth to give you a hand if you are not feeling too confident yourself.

good luck!
 
Hi Louisouis,

Where are you giving birth? I'm also due in March and it's my first so I'm nervous about bf as well (I hope to bf as long as I can). I'm delivering at Matilda and both my sister and my cousin (they also delivered there) tells me that the nurses there are very supportive of bf and are a great source of info and help. Also they have a lactation consultant there so if you have milk production problems, you also have access to expert advice right away.
 
This seems a good post to advertise the LLL-HK Breastfeeding Class. Details of what the class covers are at http://www.lllhk.org/Class.html. The next organized group class is Monday January 7th 6:30pm to 9:30 pm at Annerley Midwives, Unit 1801, Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, HK. Call 2548-7636 or [email protected]

There is no reason that a mother with a caesarean can?t breastfeed. She may find it hard to move about and need help positioning the baby but really there isn?t that much moving involved in breastfeeding.

The milk supply being established and maintained is all about the baby breastfeeding effectively and often. A newborn will feed between 8 and 14 times every 24 hours. The type of birth you have has no effect on your milk supply but it may have an effect on how easy the baby finds breastfeeding.

The biggest problem in Hong Kong tends to be the hospital policies. There is at least one hospital that says all breastfeeding must be done in a special breastfeeding room. Obviously if you?ve had a caesarean you are unlikely to be able to feed your baby for the first 24 hours. In this case it isn?t the fact you?ve had a caesarean that will give you breastfeeding problems but rather the hospital policies. Please ask lots of questions about rooming-in (where the baby is kept with you), access to the baby and whether they will bring you the baby to feed when the baby is ready or on a timetable. Often the timetable is every four hours ? this isn?t enough ? it makes only 6 feeds every 24 hours not between 8 and 14.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Sorry I didn?t answer your question

Should I give the baby formula in conjunction with breast milk?

The quickest way to get problems with breastfeeding is to try to do both breastfeeding and bottle feeding at the same time.

The baby needs to have between 8 and 14 feeds in 24 hours and the mother?s body needs the baby to feed between 8 and 14 times in 24 hours.

If the mother?s body doesn?t get the stimulation from the baby then there will be lots of problems with breastfeeding, the milk will ?come-in? late and when the milk does increase it will increase to a full supply minus the amount of formula being given.

The first four to six weeks of breastfeeding are very important. It is best not to give any bottles (of formula or breast milk) in this time but to feed the baby directly.

If the baby is having difficulty feeding directly or you have sore nipples ? GET HELP.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Just want to add to what Sarah has said - my personal experience of bf after 2 c-sections.
On both occasions, a delay of 40-60 minutes occured after birth before I could attempt breastfeeding. This is not advisable but not fatal. My first took 3 attempts and my second just one.
I do remember feeling discomfort as the nurses tried to get me to position the baby correctly. You can ask that they show you how to bf lying down so that you won't be worrying about rupturing your scar, etc.
Other than that, I presume all the 'normal' issues associated with bf come into play and are not necessarily connected with the mode of delivery.
If you have a choice, try for a natural/normal birth - drugs and delay can sometimes present challenges. Why make it more difficult than it need be?
 
Peainpod.. I am also due in March and having baby in Maltida.. when is ur due date?? r u having an elective C Section?
 
I have had three C-sections,the last one being in HK at the Adventist.I never had any problems BF other than the normal "newbie" issues first time around.Nothing that a good lactation consultant or nurse couldn't assist me with.

With my first two I had the baby with me from delivery to being wheeled into my room and baby latched on with in half and hour of delivery.My third,here in HK,they wanted to"warm" the baby first.I told them to bring the baby to me immediately and insisted that there was nothing warmer for him than being next to me.They relented and I had my baby room in with me as much as I wanted even though I was not in a private ward.As a third time mother I felt more confident and ready to stand my ground.I did feel that if I was a first time mom delivering there it might not have been so supportive.

Having said that,I was under the impression that they would try and schedule my baby when he was in the nursery and only bring him to me say every three to four hours.This was not the case and never once was he crying when the bought him to me which tells me they were watching for all the other clues that baby was hungry before the crying.

To sum up,physically I had no issues with breastfeeding after a C-section.I was very sure in my decision to make a success of it no matter what and to do it exclusively,I think this can make all the difference.

I had much more support with my first two deliveries than with my third at the Adventist,but maybe thats just because they figured I did not need as much help.

Attend some La Leche meeting before the birth and have a couple of numbers handy so that you can call on outside assistance if you need it.

PS Off the BF topic but something I had in my last to sections which I thought was just wonderful.The surgical screen was lowered for me to see my baby being lifted out into the world-as close to "natural childbirth" as you can get in an operating theatre!!I highly recommend it
 
Ideally when a baby is born it will be placed on the mother?s body. This is not always possible after a cesarean section. One thing to consider is having the father to do the skin-to-skin contact instead. Then when the mother is more able to breastfeed (usually 40 to 60 minutes later) she can take over. It is a great way for the baby and father to bond.
 
I delivered my first bb by c-s in Feb this year at Matilda. I breastfed my girl exclusively for 8months but I gave up recently cos I was tired being a full-time working mom. I must say that the midwives & nurses at Matilda did excellent jobs to make me successful in bf. My midwife brought my bb to me soon after I was pushed back to the room. I was very tired then after the ops & epidural which made me sleepy but I persisted..To reply to your questions, there's no prob to bf at all. Milk supply is depending on how often u let your bb latch on (demand & supply theory in bf!). My girl was in the 80-95 percentile & now 11.5kg at 9mths. Just keep your spirit high to overcome weariness as u need to bf round the clock & non-stop changing nappy etc. Physically I have no problem too, lie down & find a comfortable position to latch on, the bf pillow does wonder! No formula & no water at all for excl bf. My friend who had emergency c-s was successful to bf too eventho she had a GA ops & start bf nearly 24hd after birth but insisted no formula for her bb, only water by spoon..
 
I had emergency c-section at Matilda and my baby was brought to me as soon as he was born (well he was cleaned up first) and then brought straight to me, before I was sewn up!
They also tried to start b/f then....a nurse was then with me most of the night getting b/f started.....and everything went pretty smoothly from there.
The Matilda is fantastic for b/f support....and I had no problems b/f after c/section.
 
Hi, I had an emergency c-section with my baby (he is now 2!) and had no problem breastfeeding at all. I first breastfed him in the recovery room. It was exhausting during the first night as I had to call the midwife every time he needed feeding as I couldn't pick him up myself (I had him in the UK where you keep your baby by your side at all times).

If I remember rightly my milk came in a day late so he lost a little bit too much weight in that first week, but he very quickly made up for it. I breastfed until he was about 8 months old.

I am due again in April and will have an elective c-section at Matilda - am hoping breastfeeding is as straightforward as last time - I really enjoyed it!
 
I delivered my first via c-section and had a natural birth for the second one. I did not find there to be a difference at all in terms of difficulty with b'feeding. The only difference was that I could not immediately b'feed my baby after the c-section. I had to wait until he was cleaned and checked by the pedia until he was given to me, which was around 2 hours later. Not sure if this was hospital policy or because of the fact that I had a c-section. With the second one, I was handed the baby for b'feeding after she was cleaned (15 minutes later).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top