Bruising on breast

[Ivytheterrible]

My dd is 17 days old. Over the last 24 hours I have developed what seems to be a bruise on my right breast. It is a large red sore area not a lump but harder than the rest of the breast. It is under the nipple and when dd's chin kneads the breast tissue.

Is this due to poor attachment or a strong clamp? She is very vigorous when feeding on this side and I struggled to get her latched on initially so she gets anxious when on this side.

Should I just keep feeding despite the pain or express to give it time to heal?

My left side is working really well so I know how it should be IYKWIM but can't see any difference between what I am doing on the different sides.

Ivy - call the midwife tomorrow (I know it's Sunday...). This sounds like mastitis and it may need treatment. At 17 days you are still under midwifery care.

I'd carry on feeding in the mean time (as much as you can handle anyway)

Whoops, yes, of course...carry on feeding. Would be a Very Bad Idea to stop, esp if it is mastitis.

Oh god really? I've been discharged from mw care earlier this week will they still help? The hv is coming for the first time on Monday should I wait until then or will that cause bigger problems?

Thanks for your help it's really appreciated.

If you're not sure about the MWs (you can always phone and ask anyway ) then you should probably try an out of hours GP tomorrow. Mastitis can get worse very quickly, and it can make you feel completely rotton.

Ahem, rotten.

Ivy, ring your out of hours gp don't wait till monday.

Info on mastitis here

There is no need to stop feeding, it will actually make things worse if you do, you can take paracetamol for any pain, I recommend you print the leaflet on the link and when you see a gp tell them you are b/feeding and take the leaflet with you.

It'll all be fine don't stress :)

Great thanks all. Have just expressed and it feels much more comfortable and taken some painkillers so can feed on that side through the night. Will see who I can get hold of tomorrow for help x

good stuff

just to reiterate what others have said, if you suspect mastitis (flu symptons and/or nausea, red hot boob), see a GP as soon as possible and get some AB's.
They won't think your fussing and should acknowledge that you need them ASAP, it can go downhill fast

good luck