Maintaining supply whilst in hospital

[lightrain]

Hi all,
I have a 9 wk old DC and am going into hospital on Monday for surgery. It will be a one, possibly 2 night stay.

DC has been exclusively breast fed up to now. The surgery has been arranged very quickly (only confirmed yesterday) so I won't have time to pump enough to cover all the time I'm in hospital. DC can't stay with me while I'm in hospital as I'm having back surgery so couldn't care for him (no lifting, twisting, etc at first). I've got no other option but for DC to have formula whilst I'm in hospital - this isn't ideal but its my only solution.

So, on to my real question - I really want to maintain my supply whilst I'm in hospital so I can go back to bfing DC as soon as I am discharged. I will need to pump to avoid being engorged anyway, so I was planning to pump roughly when DC usually feeds while I'm in hospital. Any other tips? Surgery will be 2.5 hours approx, so I'll pump just before then as soon as I can after coming round. DH will be there to help straight after the op, plus I'm planning to let the nurses know I'm bfing so they can help when DH not there if needed (luckily its a private hospital for this op as I have health insurance through work, so the nurses should have a bit more time).

Anyone experienced similar or have any tips to help? Anything I've missed or that looks impractical?

Ps. I. Planning to dump any milk I pump whilst in hospital, as its nit practical to store and I also don't have to worry about medication getting into breast milk.

I went in for an op when DS1 was 3 months.

I pumped and dumped only 3 times but I do produce milk well and it had no effect on my supply. In the hours following surgery it was quite hard - I felt sick and spaced out. It was a private hospital in the sense that all hospitals are private in NL, but I got no help.

I think your plan is fine but don't worry if you can't really do it on day 1 - do what you can to be comfortable.

Good luck with your op xx

I had 4 weeks notice, plentiful supply and I was only in 30 hours and I only just froze enough for the op!

Thanks Twunk. My supply is usually plentiful too, so it's good to hear you had no problems. If its a 2 night stay my DH can probably bring DC in to visit on the second day and so I could feed him (depending on what mess I'm on by that stage) which should help. Just worried that my supply is going to dry up! I'm actually more concerned about this than the operation itself, it's like some weird primal feeling that I MUST continue to bf my baby, I can't explain!

Thanks for replying, I feel a bit better now.

Yes I worried too. When I had DS2 he was in ICU and I was poorly - I didn't start pumping until day 5, but I fed him for 3 years!

If it's pretty well established I wouldn't be worried - for 12 hours I pumped once (nearly passed out but I don't respond well to GAs), then once overnight (early morning really) and once mid-morning.

If you can learn to express just with your hand that could make life easier - as you're not keeping the milk it can just be collected in a kidney dish or just use some cotton or paper towels to soak it up.

Just bumping to see if anyone else has anything to add (but feeling better after Twunk's posts - thanks Twunk!).

I wouldn't worry about your milk drying up, that doesn't happen in two days, if anything you'll be really engorged. You'll be surprised by just how much you'll produce in two days and pumping never seems to fully empty the breast. Hope it goes well.

Check how long anaesthetic stays in system (anaesthetist should be able to tell you and change dose if necessary) and also that painkillers are ok.

You may want to talk to Physio about best positions to feed etc as I would imagine you still have to be careful for some time after.

Hope it all goes well.