Is it true your milk comes in later if you have an elective c section?

[ComeOVeneer]

A friend of mine (for special medical reasons) is having an elective c section a few days prior to her due date. She is planning to breast fed but has been told that with an elective rather than emergency (ie no labour) the body produces colostrum the same but the milk kicks in a few days later than with a birth having involved some degree of labour, so she may need to supplement with formula. Is this true? And if so would it be possible for her to obtain some breast milk instead of formula (as she is opposed to formula feeding?)

She shouldn't need to supplement. If the baby is hungry, it will suck loads, and her milk will come in faster.

But yeah, the lack of the hormones etc can slow things down.

If I remember rightly, I had DS1 by elective section (39+5) on a Wednesday, he had a bad arrival, didn't try to feed for first 36 hours. Really only started latching on Saturday. Milk came in on Sunday. If he'd been feeding well, milk would have come in earlier.

Depending on the medical reasons for the elective, she might be able to postpone the section and have it when in labour? Or past the due date?

all i can say is from my point of view now, is that i've had 3 elective c/s for breech (and 1 emergency after failed induction) and haven't had a problem with breastfeeding any of my children.

good advice and suppirt is what your friend needs not stories about having to top up before shes even started. b/f can be incredibly difficult in the first days/months for anyone regardless of method of delivery. i would say its more helpful to warn your friend that the first few days may feel like an endless round of feeding and dirty nappies, but if she wants to b/f the chances are she will succeed.

Oh, I did end up topping up DS1, but we used a cup, not a bottle. If you must top up, that's definately preferable, as it reduces the risk of nipple confusion.

p.s colostrom is there during pregnancy and milk usually comes in around day 3 for everyone!

Lactation is kickstarted by a reduction in the level of placental hormones - i.e. once the placenta's out.

Leaving bits of the placenta behind can have a negative effect on milk production, but not labouring shouldn't really make any difference.

She shouldn't need to supplement.

Who told her this, btw?

That's really interesting I didn't know that an elective can delay milk supply. I had an emergency c-section with dd2 and am planning a 3rd and am considering an elective - I think I may have to rethink my plans.

I am assuming that there are loads of mners who have electives but bf successfully?

Hope your friend won't feel bad if she can't breast feed. I tried for 3-4 days after my elective c section with loads of help from midwives and nothing came - was quite stressful as ds screamed at every attempt because he wasn't getting anything. Don't really know what went wrong as haven't discussed it since. Can boobs just not work?

My problems with DS1 were largely due to him not being put to the breast until he was 36+ hours old. And he was in SCBU essentially because of the section . They didn't suction his lungs enough (breech) so he went blue a bit.

ballbaby, there is a very small percentage of women who just don't make any milk, they tend to have oddly-shaped ("tubular"?) breasts.

Did your milk come in? Did your breasts get hard?

No way to not have elective I'm afraid. For various medical reasons (which I won't mention as it isn't my place to) going through a strenuous labour and possibly an emergency c section (especially if a GA was needed) could have dire results.

Don't remember the feeling of milk coming in first time, but think I did second time after normal delivery. Tried to bf with ds2 but gave up quite quickly - completely traumatised and panicking about how i was going to cope with no sleep and 2 to look after! Not naturally maternal - perhaps that was the problem!

She is a second time mum. The reason for the elective is the firsttime emergency c section that threw up all the medical problems yet she did feedsucessfully. The advice was from someone(don't know if HV or otherwise) she sawfor a antenatal bf'ding class .

My milk always comes in really quickly, this was the case after an emergency c section with no labour and an elective. I'm sure the key is to just let them suckle as much as possible

I'm not an expert (obviously) but if it's worked the first time I can't imagine she'll have a problem

No, i had two c/s and babies were suckling within 40mins of birth.

I should be - but I'm not. Every single day I come up against shit advice from my own colleagues and it makes me want to weep.

Get the baby to the breast asap after the section, get decent support and advice on e.g. good, comfy feeding positions and there's no reason why it shouldn't all be just fine and dandy.

WHen I was in hospital after my elective CS (for breech) there was a huge amount of pressure to bf and I felt I did not get the right kind of support. There seemed to be a lack of understanding of how differnet people react to the CS (one woman literally jumped out of bed the next morning, bf like a pro, and was sent home after a day or two, everyone else found it more difficult to different degrees)

Basically it is really important to persevere with the bf but to find someone who is helpful in calm way. Most of the mw tried to thrust a screaming baby onto my breasts which did not work but one mw calmed him down, taught me how to latch him on lying down and it all worked fine. It is also really important to try and bf regulary day and night to encourage the breasts to produce the milk and to get enough colustrum into the lo.

She also needs to make sure she has some proper food and lots to drink. Hospital food and drink is terrible and you really need to eat and rest well to bf

You can bf with poor food and rest. Yes, it's nicer to be well-fed and well-rested, but not necessary.

It's true that hospital support for bf is often rubbish, and that whole "shoving" thing they do is really pointless and irritating.

Ok, I've dug a bit, and it looks like any section can delay how long it takes for milk to come in cite . Also, not bringing baby to the breast in the first hours can delay the milk coming in (duh). Interesting. DS2 came by CS, but he was fully cooked, my waters broke, but labour didn't start. He was put to the breast within an hour, and my milk came in in two days.

I wonder whether milk comes in faster on later pregnancies, too? You certainly are less likely to have low supply on later babies.

i've had one elective and one emergency.. milk cam in on day three with both... most important thing is to let baby suckle as much as possible... loads of skin to skin contact and loads of encouragement to just let baby suckle until milk comes in, even if it seems like all you're doind is sitting with your boobs out...I've never needed to top up, in fact i reckon i have enough milk to feed at least three babies!!! mine is 3 weeks old at mo, after an emergency section, feeding like a trooper so far... wish your friend well and buy her chocolate... my breastfeeding essential!

no that is not right at all, sometimes after delivery if there has been a significant pph milk coming in is a bit delayed.

Putting the baby to the breast asap after delivery and feeding frequently will encourage the milk to come in.

How depresssing that your friend was given that sort of advice about supplementing