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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Milk supply after c section

22 replies

user1480264544 · 26/07/2017 14:28

I had a planed c section on Monday (yesterday) and am wondering when will my milk supply to kick in, I'm trying to BF but I'm not producing much anything so having to top up with formula which I'm ok with butbwiuld rather feed exclusively. Any tips and advice appreciated x

OP posts:
princesseggo · 26/07/2017 14:42

I had an emcs under general anaesthetic and my milk came in within 3 or 4 days.

Congratulations Flowers

2014newme · 26/07/2017 14:45

Mine never came in
They did give me meds for it which produced a bit

user1480264544 · 26/07/2017 14:54

Do you know what meds they were? I'm seeing the midwife on Saturday and will speak then if nothing comes through.. with my first it was almost instant but I have heard a few people say after c section it can take longer x

OP posts:
Dangermouse80 · 26/07/2017 14:57

3 planned sections; milk came in day 3 on the first, day 2 on the second and day 4 on my last. They told me not to worry as long as it came in by day 5.

2014newme · 26/07/2017 14:58

No idea sorry. I stopped taking them after six weeks as you can't stay on them long term and I wasn't producing much even with the meds

SomedayMyPrinceWillCome · 26/07/2017 17:36

I had a planned c-section. I was told that it was the delivery / removal of the placenta which triggers the hormones which begin milk production. Your breasts will already be producing colostrum & your milk should come in on day 2-3 as it would after a vaginal birth

BeyondThePage · 26/07/2017 17:38

DD1 - EMCS - day 3
DD2 - VB - day 3

Did not make any difference for me.

icclemunchy · 26/07/2017 17:48

Day 3 with both my emcs and semi planned. Don't forget what you can express by hand is not an indication of milk supply and colostrum is thick and doesn't "run" out of you like milk milk can. If you giving top ups is baby still spending lots of time at the breast? Suckling is what stimulates your milk supply.

I highly recommend giving the la leche helpline a call. It's 24/7 and manned by trained bf councillors who have all nursed their own babies

thefutureisfemale · 26/07/2017 17:49

I also have a planned section coming up, may I ask what 'milk coming in' means? Does it mean I won't be able to feed baby until it comes in?

Smellybluecheese · 26/07/2017 17:56

Day 5. I had to top up at first too.

BendydickCuminsnatch · 26/07/2017 17:59

Future it's basically when colostrum is replaced by milk. So you'll feed your baby colostrum, and then around day 3 you'll start making actual milk.

madja · 26/07/2017 18:05

3 days here too, after an emergency C-section. Never came in properly though, and ended up on a combination of bottle and breast. By 6 weeks I had to stop, as I wasn't producing enough. I had got quite stressed about it though, which I'm sure didn't help. Hopefully you will be fine!

drinkingtea · 26/07/2017 18:14

Is there a reason you're topping up? It's not usual for your milk to come in so quickly regardless of deliver method. Usually babies only need colostrum at this stage, though there can be reasons they need more due to blood sugar dropping it's perfectly normal not to be feeding milk after only 48 hours.

My milk came in quicker with each baby, all c-section (1st one emergency after labouring, 2nd and 3rd planned and didn't go into labour).

DC1 was about 5 days
DC2 about 4
DC3 my milk came in after 36 hours which the midwife in hospital said was remarkably early.

None were suplimented. Weirdly dc1 and 2 put on weight faster than dc3, though I think that was more because I didn't have peace to sit and feed for hours with the other two needing me and he probably didn't always get the hind milk every feed.

MoHunter · 26/07/2017 19:28

I had an emergency C-section with DS2, milk came in after 3 days (same as DS1 which was a normal vaginal birth).

Why do you need to top up? If baby is latching onto the breast and sucking then they will be getting the thick colostrum you produce initially. They only have a tiny tummy and don't need much to start with. If you top up then this will affect your milk supply going forward and be harder for baby to learn to feed efficiently from the boob. If you want to combi-feed that's fine of course but if you wish to breastfeed and there's no latch / tongue tie issue then don't worry about topping up at his stage.

OrangeJulius · 26/07/2017 19:41

I had EMCS on Monday, milk came in on Wedneday night.

Colostrum was totally different to milk. Colostrum was thick and sticky, and there wasn't much of it. I was expressing some feeds because DD was struggling to latch, and if I managed to express upwards of 1mL of colostrum in a syringe, the midwives were happy. When my milk came in, my boobs felt like they were going to explode, they were constantly dripping, and I could express a hell of a lot more than 1mL! Totally different substance.

Shanster · 27/07/2017 02:40

I had a c-section with my third and I was still in hospital when my milk came in, I think it was day 3.

newbian · 27/07/2017 02:46

Had a planned section and milk arrived on day 3. There's no need to top up with formula unless the medical staff is concerned about weight. If you do supplement still be sure to do a lot of skin-to-skin contact and latching or else your body won't get the signals for milk production.

nooka · 27/07/2017 02:49

I had c--sections for both my babies. Not sure when my supply switched from colostrum to milk (or how much of either I produced) but it wasn't an issue, both breastfed from the get go and didn't have bottles until I switched over at 3/6mths. If you give the majority of your baby's feed from the bottle that will really affect your supply.

MissisBee · 27/07/2017 03:40

I think mine was about day 4 or so. (Only 12 weeks ago so you'd think I'd remember!) Different circumstances - emergency c/s under general anaesthetic, at 33+5 as I had pre-eclampsia. I was severely dehydrated from the medication from this, DS was in SCBU being tube fed and we didn't meet until he was 12 hours old - I think these factors probably delayed things but they got me on an expressing regime which helped until he learned to latch on himself at day 6. Still ebf now with no problems with weight gain.

GreenGoblin0 · 28/07/2017 09:40

have you been advised to top up? as others have said you will only be producing colostrum at this stage which is what your baby needs and s/he doesn't need much of it. my milk came in on day 3 both times. lots of skin to skin and offering her breast frequently will help

McCheese · 28/07/2017 17:16

Yes I'll also say lots of skin to ski and offer breast to stimulate supply.
Your baby will only need about 5ml to fill his tummy in day 1 but the worry would be now that his tummy has stretched from formula. Are the midwives telling you to give formula? I'm quite shocked if they are! Unless there's some medical reason of course. Feed and pump!! That will get milk going!

INeedNewShoes · 30/07/2017 04:50

The hospital pushed me to use formula when my baby was less than 48 hours' old. It buggered up my milk coming in which took huge determination and a lot of expressing to put right. If you really want to breastfeed you need baby to give boobs the message that they need to up their game by feeding lots.

My baby is 12 weeks now and we've only recently fully recovered from breastfeeding being interfered with for the first 3 weeks by the medics insisting I topped her up with formula.

Drinking plenty of water, eating well and doing lots of lovely skin to skin will all help too, but the main thing is to feed lots and lose the formula if you can. I got around this by agreeing to top baby up a certain no. of ml with expressed milk so that baby was still being 'topped up' then gradually weaned her off the expressed top ups so now she's almost purely just getting my milk directly from the boob.

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