anemia and breast feeding

[robinredbreast]

just been thinking about my time bf and that if i ever had another baby how could i make it easier to bf

and i wonder if i found bf so hard was because i was v v anemic to the point the drs wanted to give me a blood transfusion

i was anemic b4 the birth then i had a pph

i reused the transfusion as im very paranoid about catching things but wonder if this anemia made things difficult as i always felt like i had low milk supply

I dont know how much anaemia affects b/feeding - if at all.

I was certainly anaemic (not as much as you by the sounds of it!), and didnt find it a hinderance at all.

Why did you feel like you had a low milk supply?

It can't help - but you can fix your anaemia via your diet or iron supplements.

thanks but i couldnt take iron due to having my arse reconstructed due to a 4th degree tear
it was worsse than giving birth going for a number 2 after the op
so there was no way i could take even spatone

the reason i felt like i had low milk supply was that i never leaked a drop certainly never sprayed, dd was always feeding about 30 times a day until 4 months and i could only ever express 2 oz max

robin - leakage is not a guide as to your supply - I have never leaked nor sprayed a drop but have had no supply probs with either baby

ditto expressing - means nothing. Babies are much more efficient at getting milk out than a pump. And some babies do just feed a lot

However, I imagine a 4th degree tear & a newborn makes EVERYTHING rather difficult so I think you did pretty well & if your baby was thriving then your supply was just fine

thanks must admit it was painful sitting down allday bf !!!

AH, yes, I remember well after having stitches. I used to lay down to feed. It took the pressure off.

MrsJC is right about the supply thing btw. You cant really tell - the baby is ace at getting the milk out. As long as your baby was gaining weight well and thriving then I'm guessing she was doing just fine.

yeah i was just thinking how i could make it easier next time!! if there is one lol

dd did gain weight ok anything from 3oz to 8oz a week

i suffer from anemia also and i'm always on iron tablets, i also had a pph after my dd was born but breastfeeding went fine although very tiring at times but as i'm tired most of the time anyway i was pretty much used to the tired bit, just try to eat more varied diet and certainly take multivitamins with iron , i never had a problem with milk supply so can't help on that bit

i eat a very good diet but i also had hg
and as i said counldnt take iron supplements due to 4th degree tear

I had severe anaemia after having a pph and was given iron infusions rather than a blood transfusion. I was told that I could follow the infusions up with oral iron supplements but I could not even take spatone either due to a bit of reconstruction following a haematoma forming where I had torn. I was told by the BF counsellor and all the midwives that my anaemia would almost certainly affect my supply. However, following the iron infusions I had plenty of milk and no longer needed to express inbetween feeds to keep my milk supply up

Robin,

After i had dd1 i too had a massive PPH and like you was terrified of accepting the transfusion - so refused it for 3 days until i was too weak to sit up or even speak. My Hb dropped to 5.5 and the Drs insisted that if i didn't accept the transfusion there was a risk i could die! I was then transfused 3 units which brought my Hb back up to 9.1 and i was release home with ferrous sulphate 3-4times per day. I took me approx 5 months to establish Bfing and during this time i had Mastitis 4 times probably due to being so weak and run down.

I feel that the anemia definately did have an effect on my supply. It took dd1 6 weeks to regain her birthweight.