Breastfeeding and general anaethestic?

[Jenkeywoo]

My dd is having to go in for an MRI scan on November 28th - she will have it under sedation or under general anaethestic. Does anyone know when you can breastfeed before and after a GA? I know it's going to be a fairly traumatic experience and that the hospital won't be expecting me to be breastfeeding her as she's 19 months old (horror of horrors!) so I want to go armed with the facts so I know when I can comfort my little girly.

sorry for the spelling of anaethestic - it doesn't look right but I can't be arsed to look it up.

It's something like 5 hours, sorry can't remember exactly.

Just wanted to say my ds had a GA at 15 months and I was really worried about the nil by mouth thing but he wasn't bothered at all, too interested in all the hospital goings on.

My dd had GA at 4 months. She was exclusively breastfed then. I was not allowed to breastfeed for 4 hours prior, but allowed to give her a sip of water 3 hours prior, thereafter nothing.

Not sure whether it would be different for an older child.

All the best for your dd.

My ds recently had an op at 14months. I know not quite as old as your dd but the hospital weren't shocked at all that I was still feeding him and told me how long before the ga I could breastfeed without me asking. He went down to theatre at 10:30am - we had to stop all food at midnight but he could have breastmilk until 5am. He was still a screaming miserable hungry mess by 9am, but he's a bit of a heffalump and loves his food! I fed him as soon as he came round from the ga, the nurse just had to check him first to make sure he had come round ok. He was then starving, quickly demolished our bag full of snacks and dh had to run to the league of friends for a cheese roll. The only traumatic bit of the ga was holding him down while the anaesthetist put the mask over his face and then leaving him unconscious - once he had come round and eaten he was completely fine. Good luck, hope all goes well.

I would speak to the anaesthetist who will be doing it if possible. DD had an op and the surgeon told us she could bf until 4 hours before the op but the anaesthetist then refused to put her to sleep until much later

Thank you for your replies - I'll make sure I get it clarified before we go in.

BTW, bear in mind whatever time period the hospital stipulates for starving, your dd might end up without food or water for longer anyway. Unless your dd is first on the list, she might have to end up waiting for her procedure.

Yours is an MRI, so maybe less likely. But my dd ended up waiting close to 2 hours for her operation, being 3rd or 4th in the surgery queue that day. So she ended up 6 hours without consuming anything!

reread my message: too many "ended up"s!

Well the letter states - breakfast before 7am - then clear fluids until 11am - scan booked at 2.30pm. Actually dd's not a big eater so it should be ok as long as breastmilk is considered a clear fluid - according to lll guidelines it is but some hospitals disagree - I think as we're not going into hospital until 11 am I'll get there at about 10.30am and give her a big feed to keep her going. The good thing is that dd will accept breastmilk anytime night or day.

God, I'm really worried now - I've just talked to the hospital and they say that breastmilk is not allowed after 7am. My DD doesn't really drink any other liquid other than a few sips so I know it will be awful for her and she will be really thirsty. Also breastfeeding is such a comfort for her, it's going to be hell.

Most of the guidelines I've read say that breastmilk can be considered a clear fluid so I'm thinking of flouting the rules and feeding her anyway. Am I mad? isn't the no 'food' rule about not making them vomit anyway? I can't see how they would ever know anyway.

I just feel sick now at the thought of dd having to go through all of this.

Jenkey - I suggest printing off what you have read and asking for an appointment with the actual anaesthetist to discuss it.

It is a grey area. The risk of aspiration of stomach contents (as I understand it) is not the same as with formula/cows milk, but there are some authorities which say breastmilk is not a clear fluid. If your dd is only having small amounts of breastmilk, tell the anaesthetist this so they can make an individual decision for you.

Make sure the info you take in is reputable and up to date. Google on paediatric anaesthesia and do a PubMed search, too.

I was definitely allowed to bf ds up to 5 hours before the op (possibly 3 hours as I could feed up to 5am, we had to be at the hospital for 7:30 so presumably he could have gone to theatre at 8am but didn't go until 10am)- the anaethetist knew I had done this and was happy. In your case I would be tempted to slightly flout the rules and feed a little later, but tiktok's suggestion is very sensible. If your dd will have sips of water, maybe she will have more if thirsty? Whatever you do there will be a period when you can't feed her, so I would take her favourite toy/book etc (I took the Gruffalo down to theatre with us) and be prepared for her to be a bit upset. It is horrible but it doesn't last long and it's for the best - trite I know but kept me going with poor hungry ds. Also the hospital had a fantastic playroom which was very good for distracting him.