Is this possible? Resuming ebf after 24 hours of separation

[Esmeeel]

I need to be hospitalised for surgery and have been told I cannot breastfeed for 24 hours. Dd will be 10 weeks old and has never had a dummy or bottle and is ebf.

We will introduce a dummy a few days beforehand so that dh has some options to help soothe dd. I don't want to express as I don't want the stress of this as well so it will be formula, but I only want her exposed to the minimum amount of formula possible so we won't be trialling formula or bottles, just use them when I am in hospital.

I know I will need to express in hospital to avoid mastitis but will this be enough to avoid supply issues as well? Is there anything else I need to be aware of when stopping bf so abruptly like this?

When I am home I want to go back to ebf, is this realistic? I will be in bed and so will have plenty of time for skin to skin etc. But do babies of this age usually readjust easily? I

I think you will be okay. I did this for the same reason as you at a slightly younger age for a slightly longer time. It wasnt pre-planned so no bottles introduced. Do you express now? I would have thought it might decrease the stress to try some expressed milk in a bottle in advance - my DS happily went with both. Are you fasting pre-op? My experience was that because I couldnt eat for a while (and was stressed) my supply dropped and did take a while to pick up, so i used breast and formula for a while until it built back up. Was no problem returning to breast feeding though.

Thank you. I have so much else to organise and do for my dc that I honestly don't think I could fit in expressing as well. I tried to express for my oldest dc but it took about an hour for half a bottle and then it was wasted as he didn't like the bottle and so we didn't bother again after that.

I've not been told about fasting yet. Did you have any issues with mastitis? This worries me as I have never had it before.

Esmeel tbh usually when mothers are told no bf for 24hrs the info is wrong. There are a tiny range of likely medications which would involve the suspension of bf for this specific time and non are anaesthetics for example. Who'd it be helpful to check this info with the Breastfeeding Network who will know much more about drugs and bf than the doctor you spoke with.

It is definitely possible, I think you'll be fine. But... As PP said contact the Breastfeeding Network, they have a specialist pharmacist on their drugs in breastmilk helpline who can give you proper advice about anaesthetic. Women feed straight after CS all the time.

I am very surprised to hear this about bf and anaesthetic. I will be pushing for some more answers about why they said I had to wait 24 hours. A few hours would be fine as he already goes 4 hours between feeds so could just have a small top up of ex bm if needed. Thank you for this information.

Very rare for someone to need to suspend bf for this long after a GA. Please do check this.

Usually, when you are conscious, this means the anaesthetic is not in your system any more. If it was, you would still be 'under' :)

Any remaining elements of the anaesethetic in your bloodstream (and milk) are inert....they don't do anything.

The Breastfeeding Network website has a link to their info sheet about this, which you can read and share with your doctors.

Second what everyone else said check the 24 hour thing. But also wanted to say I stopped for a week with my ds (hospitalized with severe mastitis and breast absess) changed my mind and was able to re-establish bf really easily.

Only advice I would give is formula feed as if bf we gave only small bottles ( using new born teet) on demand which stopped his stomach stretching and getting used to large ff.

Good luck you will be fine.

It will be fine, I was away from my DC2 for 48 hours and we picked up where we left off, I just pumped and dumped whilst we were apart to ease the pressure.

IME, it takes around 10 days for your milk supply to stop if you go cold turkey (as I had to do another time) and even then there is a small amount present for some considerable time afterwards.

Have a read of this BFN sheet as mentioned above.

I'd take a copy with you to your next appointment.

As an aside: some mothers have a C-section under GA. Are they discouraged to breastfeed??

Yes, I would think it would be fine, tho DD may be very unsettled while your away, and compensate for it when you get back.

Thank you.

chilli that is a good idea about small feeds on demand. I will pass that information onto dh.

Thinking about it I won't be able to feed overnight anyway as dd won't be able to be with me, but hopefully I will be able to feed during the day whilst in hospital.