Mastitis and duct removal - is there any chance of producing milk?

[Annieroo]

A few years ago I suffered badly from Mastitis (non pregnancy/baby related) and had to have most (if not all) of my milk ducts removed. At the time i'm sure the docs said i would never be able to breastfeed. But now speaking to my midwife she said that i should be able to produce milk. I'm still not convinced. I was wondering if anyone else has had the same thing and breastfed or have you had to rely on the bottle?

Any thoughts appreciated.

I expect that you won't know for certain until you try, but it is probably unlikely to succeed totally if the doc who actually did the operation felt it would not happen. You might be able to partially bf, it is worth a go. Good Luck

Thanks Maxbear, i think i will probably go with what the docs have said - after all they did the op, so they'd have a better idea than the midwife.

Annieroo - sometimes doctors know less than midwives, even the ones who have done the op! They don't tend to see their patients years later. I have heard of ducts re-canalising ie when they have been severed, they join up again because the body does repair itself. Are you sure they actually removed the ducts?

Tiktok,

I had what they called periductal mastitis in both sides, and had a bilateral 'hadfield's' procedure - which basically means the removal of the major ducts.

My boobs have grown since being pregnant, though not a great deal, and there is no sign of any milk leaking (am 30+5).

Hadfields is the removal of the major ducts under the nippoe, so if they've all been removed, I should think its unlikely

Annie - I know nothing about the procedure that you had, but I never leaked any milk during any of my pregnancies, so that is not an indicator.

I would say that if your breasts have grown at all there must be something there, so give it a go, keeping a good eye on the wet and dirty nappies and how baby is acting alertness/feeding well etc.