One troublesome boob!

[OhBoobles]

I have a 5 week old baby and I've been ebf.

A few days ago I started to notice that he was sicking up what looked like blood, usually after feeding on my left boob. (There was no obvious signs of my nipples bleeding which I know could have caused this). My left boob was also really painful and tender and getting a bit engorged.

I went to the doctor and he said it was likely to be some sort of infection so to avoid feeding from left boob, but I could pump from it and feed him the expressed milk if there was no blood in the milk, that I should keep an eye out for any more blood in baby's sick, and go back to the him next week for a proper examination.

So I've been attempting to just feed from the right and pump from left, but I feel like the pumping is just making my left boob more active and it's getting engorged SO quickly after each pumping session. I'm scared to leave it full for too long incase I develop mastitis, and it's also incredibly uncomfortable having it so full and hard.

Does anyone have an advice on reducing supply in one boob and finding the balance between pumping too much and not letting an engorged boob get infected? (Or even more infected than it already is). I've introduced one formula bottle a day for now so I don't have to rely so much on the pumped left boob milk and also can give my right boob a break, but how do I send the message to left boob to slow down production?

If anyone has any experience of a similar situation I would really appreciate some advice! Feeling a bit confused and anxious about making myself ill with mastitis. I can get local breastfeeding support, but not until Monday so I need to get through the weekend! I've tried massaging and hand expressing but they're not helping

[Bue]

I think you've been given dud advice by your GP. A variety of things can cause blood in the breastmilk and you do not need to stop feeding, as far as I'm aware! In your case it sounds like engorgement/mastitis? Blood can definitely be present with mastitis. In which case the resolution is to feed, feed, feed, not to stop! I'd ignore the advice and put baby to the breast.

[celeryeater]

www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk

I would give these a call for free help and advice. I would say stop pumping and start feeding on it again but I'm no expert. I know when I've had blood /infection every health care professional and breastfeeding support worker told me to keep feeding and that blood or pus wouldn't hurt the baby. They said the only problem would be it could taste funny so the baby may not be as keen. You could try having a hot bath and submerging your boob for a while then gently hand express the extra milk off so the breast isn't too full but don't completely empty it.

[OhBoobles]

Thanks for the replies. I think the idea of not feeding from one boob was so we could figure out if it was definitely that one that was causing the blood, but after 2 days of just feeding from right and pumping from left (with no signs of blood in the pumped milk) I've given in and baby is back on left boob! It already feels miles better and he's emptied it better than the pump so no more engorgement. The doctor was a trainee and was quite young so maybe not as knowledgeable about breastfeeding as he should be..

I'll just see what happens over the next few days and see if the blood makes another appearance. I know baby is fine and generally blood is harmless, but it's still always worrying to see.

[parentsvsPIL]

keep in mind that the more you pump the more milk you'll make, so the engorgement is likely the result of the pumping...

I'm having the same problem with the right boob and was told to keep feeding from it and not to pump (even though pumping makes some of the pain go away) because that would just make it engorge more quickly.

Doctors generally don't get taught much about breastfeeding other than the epidemiology of why it's a good idea.