feeding after general anaesthetic. advice please.

[rosiedays]

Dd is 4 months ebf.
Early next month i have to have a GA for a dental opp. When the hospital called i explained i had a young bf baby, the woman audibly tutted and syed! Not a great start. She said she would get a nurse to call me back. The nurse called and literally said 'we have a very strict procedures re breastfeeding. ... I'll read it to you. .. blabla.. can only feed in certain places. ..bla bla must not feed for at least 4hours after GA (at which point i burst into tears! !!)

For the past couple of days I've been expressing and trying different bottles. .. dd is not impressed. She Iis a smacker and comes to the breast often (at least once every 2hours) )which is not an issue for me. We have a lovely bedtime routine, dd feeds to sleep and feeds (boobs) lots during the night. Again nothing an issues at the moment.
So my question is do i really need to upset all this, keep trying with the bloody stupid annoying bottles and expressing.
I am finding conflicting information on Google search and only mn thread is from 2002 (tictok do you have a long service medal :) )
Bf is encouraged following c section what is the difference or am i missing something? Is it just a ' you might drop the baby thing' we're covering our backs or will it harm my dd if i feed her as usual?
Any advice and information (links would be great)
Tia

hi there. I recently had a v similar situation with 5 month baby. I could feed him as soon as I wanted after GA. I had to get to hospital 7 am and was home by about 2. Baby did without a feed, refused bottle and was fine! They were pretty clueless at the hospital re breastfeeding but did try to put me further up 'the list' so I could go home quicker. I worried so much but it was fine!

Oh and one doctor said I wouldn't be able to feed for 12 hours after GA but it wasn't true.

Thanks Georgebear.
Can I ask on what advice did you decide to bf straight after? Dh is going to take some convincing now as i got a bit worked up over it at the weekend (and spent a small fortune on bottles and teats )

Hi - I had GA when my dd was a month old.
Many hcps seemed confused about the facts and I had conflicting information until I spoke to the anaesthetist who said modern GAs are fast acting and as soon as you feel well enough to feed then it's fine to do so.

I would feed the baby just before you go into theatre and have your dh or dm on hand to look after baby while you're under then bring baby to you as soon as your able to sit up in bed. Unless your op takes more than a couple of hours then your dd shouldn't even have to miss a feed!

My hospital has a breastfeeding coordinator who's based in the maternity area but also handles patients who are bf. You should enquire to see if a similar role exists in your hospital. Your local midwife should know or possibly your health visitor.

Good luck. I know how stressful this is!

There is some advice from the Breastfeeding Network here

Once you are conscious, the anaesthetic is out of your bloodstream. And once it's out of your bloodstream, it's out of your milk....challenge the hospital to back up its (stupid) rules with some evidence.

(Blimey - 2002, really?!)

Thanks everyone :)
Dh and dd will be with me all day and a friend is driving me home ( hospital will not let me go with dh as apparently he can't look after me and a baby
I'm very glad that I don't need to change our daily rhythm, it's been hard to established and is just lovely at the moment.
I have an appointment next week and I will challenge if necessary or just do my own thing after discharge.

Why oh why do those who should be supportive of bf make life so difficult sometimes.

DS 1 was born by emCS under GA. He was put to the breast by a midwife AS I CAME ROUND! I think GA's are very short acting. If in doubt, ask to speak to anaesthetist. xx

They do sound like they are being really difficult. Id feed as soon as you like after the ga, as tiktok has said, its out of your blood stream once you are awake. Maybe they are worried about you dropping the baby or something.

Also they really cant stop you going home with who you want, especially since they cant keep you in hospital if you if you want to leave. What are they going to do? Sit on you or barricade the doors.

[Grin]

even! Hope it all goes well for you

Information is so varied! I had an op when DD was about 4 months and the anaesthetist said not to feed for 'a day or two' I rang the breast feeding hotline who said as soon as I was alert enough to remember I had a baby I was ok to feed! She was fine. I reckon the bigger risk is any painkillers they give you during the op - it's worth asking about that and stating you don't want drugs that could affect your baby.

The anesthetist on the day said it was ok Rosie. They said to me about getting another person to pick me up but my DH picked me up with baby in sling so he had his hands free! I got myself worked up because he kept refusing bottles in the weeks before but he didn't cry while I was away (except when offered a bottle!) The anaethetist (lady) was gobsmacked that I was bfing a 5 month old and that he was still alive without 'proper' food. she told all the nurses about this strange state of affairs.

Also I downloaded from Breastfeeding Network a factsheet which you could show your DH. It looks pretty official. I googled 'breastfeeding and anaesthesia' and it came up.

Agree with tiktok 100%.
I'm a doc, and recently had a GA so thoroughly researched it.
Quite concerned by the you can only feed in certain places bit- what do they mean?

Thanks all,
I've called the hospital back to get the names of the drugs they will use and a wonderful lady at bfn (a pharmacist) confirmed that it's fine to feed my baby as soon as i want to. The bottles and pump have been banished back to the cupboard :) and am going to carry on with our lovely feeding just the way we are :)
Staverton, yes I was shocked to as i live in a supposedly very bf friendly city. I know my babies rights (thanks to mn) and will feed her wherever it is safe and convenient to do so. .. have recently mastered the art of feeding while walking so might just feed while checking in! tictok your a legend.

Always wanted to be a leg-end, thank you!! :)

Fab job, getting the right info.

Now, it would be great if you write to the department and go bananas, oops, no, tell them very politely that they are misinforming mothers about something quite important and what are they going to do about it? The nurse read you out a policy, so it's not a casual thing. Any crap about only feeding in certain places needs clarifying too........:)