Is it ever physically impossible to breast feed?

[ThePowerof3]

I know that there can be a lot of mental barriers to breastfeeding but what are the physical ones? Is it ever possible for someone's milk not to come in?

Indeed, cory....and the big brain means we can figure out what might help when the feeding goes a bit awry....I mean we don't say (like Mrs Other Mammal) 'sod that one - it can't feed, so I will abandon it/let the siblings crush it/eat it'

:)

It is when you are so ill post birth you can't even lift your head off the pillow due to the epidural going wrong or due to the rip roaring infection or the fact I needed 3 pints of blood or that they tried everything to get dd2 out and then gave me a c/s after 9 pessaries and countless days of pain no sleep and worry also ventouse and forceps when suddenly they cottoned on that they needed to get her out asap so yes to answer your question yes when the mother is really ill post birth . Bearing in mind I b/f my first for 6 months and wanted to b/f my second also but hey I must not be bitter we are still here 17 years later.Oh um sorry rant I didn't realise I still felt that bad about it after all these years.

Not as fuzzy as giraffes though: imagine giving birth to those horrid long-legged things with sharp hooves. Apparently, birth complications are very common.

Puch

Ouch

Unfortunately I was unable to breast feed any of my children due to inverted nipples. Irrationally have always felt disappointed about it 30 year On. Does make me cross though when the breast is best advocates say everyone could breast feed and it gives baby the best start in life. I always felt second best and as if I was letting my babies down, especially at 1980's NCT groups. I remember asking a host if she would put my bottle of formula in a jug of hot water for me ( that's what you did then according to the right practise at the time!) and she held the bottle in the air and loudly said " ooh what's this I don't know what to do with it" guaranteed to make a new mum feel useless!

very true, tiktok

though not foolproof, not enough for x2boys' poor grandma

wouldn't have been enough for me either except that evolution had done its work on the brain of the consultant paed, if not on mine, and he had dd admitted to hospital

looking at the photos in retrospect I realise I could easily have ended up like x2boys' grandma

Thank goodness we have an alternative

I had severe preeclampsia which effected my milk coming in and the BP med's don't help that at all, after a week of going back and forth to HDU I needed stronger medication to control my blood pressure and prevent me fitting which wasn't safe to breast feed on so i had to stop expressing - was getting less than 1oz a time despite expressing for over an hour

Just marking my place, as another peer supporter, these stories are all very interesting. :)

fairimum I had severe preeclampsia which effected my milk coming in - I had this too with DD, and no one ever explained that to me. I never knew that - just thought I'd failed.

Cory, I didsay be open to the possibility BUT it is good to be aware that it is more likely to not be a physical barrier to bf so don't assume the worst and explore other options (with relevant support).

I follow a rescue place on facebook and a mother chimps milk dried up so another lactating mother took over for her I thought that was great if the baby and other mum didnt get on well the baby would have died

well it wouldnt have as the rescue would have bottle fed I suppose

That would have done me nicely, bumbleymummy

But I don't think anyone I saw in those early days had been trained at all to acknowledge the possibility of SN; it was all about latching and confidence and having the right attitude.

(Perhaps they might have talked about lactation if I had ever been able to undo my bra without squirting the ceiling; to do them justice I don't know that they wouldn't).

They only talked about problems to do with me, so I assumed they knew the problem had to be something to do with me.

Of course if I had known, I might have put them right and asked to be transferred to a specialist in SN bf'ing. But that's just it, I didn't know.

I hadn't realised the obvious connection between blood loss and BF issues. I actually had to have a transfusion but didn't have milk problems so it has been very educational to discover that I was perhaps unusual in that respect and that for so many others it has been a major factor.

Ahh the judging of FF mums.....

There is certainly a lot of perceived judgement....

I have been accused of judging FF mums by:

1. stating the statistical facts on increased SIDS risk of FF (facts don't judge...they just are....)

1. describing how I overcame a particular challenge to a poster who asked for advice on that challenge. (implying it might be worth trying is apparently a judgement of all those who didn't...)

1. countering myths that 'not having enough milk' after BF is established is common (yes we all agree, especially on this thread, that it happens...but it isn't common).

1. asking for a formula advert to be removed from MN (it is against their policy).

There is also a a lot of actual judging...but it is, in the vast vast majority of cases, a FF mum judging herself to have been a failure in some way. It is all over this thread too. People who feel they failed, or could have tried harder....no one replying agrees....certainly none of the BF supporters....but that doesn't matter, everyone is too busy feeling judged to notice.

I think in the whole time I have been on here I have once seen ONE poster recurrently imply that someone actually should have tried harder before switching to FF. They were soundly jumped on by everyone else...and possibly even banned.

Oh one final thought....it is as utterly dumb to imply that BF is easy and always works smoothly as it would be to imply that childbirth is easy and always works smoothly.

I really really pisses me off that antenatal classes still take this utterly obtuse approach.

Of course. I guess Some women's boobs might not work, just like some of us have had to have assisted fertility, wear glasses etc.

www.biologicalnurturing.com This is an interesting perspective on some of the pychological barriers to BF. Particularly the right brained/left brained stuff.

Regarding the medication angle - my friend with a heart condition had a sympathetic consultant who found bf friendly combination of heart medication for her - unfortunately either she was in the % of people that pills didn't work for or the further damage her heart suffered despite excellent care meant it didn't work. Her extreme exhaustion contributed to her pnd.

There was no choice but to stop and go back on her life saving but bf incompatible medication.

She did get to feed two months and as she'd pumped got to supplement for another month - but she still got upset despite everyone telling her she'd bf longer than many and had no choice but to ff.

OP. can I recommend you get the book Making more milk by Diana West. It is a fascinating read, will answer all your questions and be a great resource for you in the future. I think it is written in a way that is suitable for both health professionals and women/families. You will definitely make good use of it.

3. countering myths that 'not having enough milk' after BF is established is common (yes we all agree, especially on this thread, that it happens...but it isn't common).

My milk was late coming in and our first and DC was showing the first signs of dehydration.

I had an excellent community MW team and one to one care - as soon as they spotted the signs they came every few hours at our house to check on us - gave us the advice to wake her at least every 3 hours for 24 hours feed her and how to stimulate her awake - and got me pumping and making sure she took what I got out on a special spoon. Within 24 hours my milk had come in and we were both fine.

It wasn't till we moved that we realize that level of care wasn't universal or even standard. I could have easily have walked away with the idea I wasn't producing enough milk and not have gone on to bf all of our 3 DC all well over a year.

I don't know how you can separate case like mine where the correct support would mean milk does come in in sufficient amounts from cases where it will never happen.

loa yes this is why I usually bother to try and counter. People hear so often that others couldn't make enough milk. And sometimes it IS true, and nothing could have helped, but in the vast majority of cases it could have been helped.

If people at least know that it is rare then they can keep demanding help until they exhaust the possibilities....

I think ICBINEG demand help is just one aspect though - the MW attitude was vital for us.

If we'd had the MW we'd had with our 3rd DC, different area with low bf rate, I don't doubt we'd have been told horror stories of how serious dehydration could end up as they did this with other aspects of that pg that hadn't raise eye brows with previous pg. In which case we'd have ff straight away rather than risk any possible harm.

We were lucky to be in bf friendly area that did more than pay lip service and the MW were calm,informative and very supportive.

I think just being demanding especially as first time parents wouldn't have been enough.

Certainly when I had repeated bouts of mastitis with second baby in the new area - being demanding just got me really crap incorrect advice form MW, GP and HV. Having bf once I knew I could again and I suppose I was demanding and knowledge enough to know the advice was wrong and did thanks to good web sites and time get past it.

As already mentioned, even if the breasts are up to the challenge, things like birth trauma and any problems with the baby, can make bf nearly impossible.
Dd1- 2 days in labour, emcs, blood loss, infection etc etc coupled with dd being in obvious pain after birth so difficult to feed, weight loss etc, had me packing it in after a few weeks.
Dd2 - straightforward birth, dd2 breast fed easily, no issues apart from oversupply which saw her piling on the weight.
The same breasts but different outcomes. I don't think anyone should flog themselves over not bf for any reason, i cant see any difference between my daughters despite being fed differently, but help needs to be there to support women who do want to carry on.