Is this mastitis?

[Melittlebee]

My baby is 4 weeks old abs feeding well & putting in weight.
The last 2 days my left breast has felt very tender and almost bruised on one side & slightly hard like it's not being emptied completely. I've also felt a bit unwell with a fever.

Is this mastitis? What can I do?

Anyone?

That sounds like mastitis, but I would recommend that you call your midwife or the drs. Insist on an appointment to be seen, today, the risk for sepsis is much higher this close to having given birth.

Keep feeding from that side, don't pump it off (except if it's too engorged for baby to latch, then only pump manually or hand express, and only enough to soften the breast and relieve the discomfort. You may want to try and see a breastfeeding support worker to see if there's anything to do with the latch going on, as mastitis can be caused by milk not being transferred from breast to baby efficiently, even though it's getting the signal to make more milk.

Kelly mom is a good resource (just put into google with mastitis) for things breastfeeding related, it is an American site but I found it really helpful myself.

Hope you feel better! Take paracetamol and rest, is someone with you to help?

That sounds like mastitis - if you can get a GP appointment or go to a walk-in today they’ll give you some antibiotics and you’ll start to feel better within about 24 hours. I had it when my DC was 16 weeks and when I spoke to a midwife over the phone (it was a Sunday) she urged me to get seen as quickly as possible because it can turn nasty if left.

All fine once I started taking paracetamol and antibiotics though. Hope you feel better soon, coming down mastitis is horrible!

Sounds like it. You poor thing