Reassurance needed- supply and latching issues

[Mumofacat]

I'm looking for some advice, some reassurance, and a bit of support.

Im a new mum to a 10 day old baby. I love him more than anything and feeling completely wrapped up in the bubble of it. However, I’ve been having a really hard start to it all, and essentially my baby won’t latch and I’m terrified about losing support completely.

for context. I had a c section last Wednesday so 11 days ago now. We spent the first 4 days in hospital, my kidney function went for a toss (I have a kidney transplant!) and baby wouldn’t latch, and I seemingly had no milk, but just minimal colostrum which was painstakingly hand expressed and fed via syringe.

I am not sure why but my milk supply is under 20mils every time I pump. Bought pump and I’m trying to pump 4 times a day, I’ve the last two and a half days. I also saw a lactation specialist yesterday. As any one with new baby knows, it is utterly exhausting. I am really gutted and can’t believe I can breastfeed my son. He was so wanted how do I cope with the feelings I have about not being able to give him the best possible and if anyone has recommendations or knows how to meaningfully improve milk supply that would be great as I feel deeply heartbroken about it somehow.

on the one hand people are telling me I might just have time to save it, and on the other, people are telling me it’s early days. Please help me restore some sanity as this is all I think of lately.

I have an 8 week old and went through similar issues with latching and milk supply due to a major haemorrhage, but am now successfully breastfeeding.

Regarding the latch, I would suggest that you try and create a comfortable calm environment and reduce stress as much as possible when trying to feed the baby - easier said than done I know! However high stress levels will negatively affect latching. I'd also recommend stripping you and baby down and having lots of skin to skin contact and cuddles.

Make sure you are doing nipple to nose and when baby opens their mouth, grab your breast and basically shove it in their mouth. I'd also look up flipple - press your thumb above your nipple so the nipple is pointing upwards when you shove it in baby's mouth.

A nipple shield can also help baby to latch.

Has baby been assessed for a tongue tie? Ask your HV about this if not.

In terms of supply, at 10 days old, a baby will not need a huge amount of milk, only 1 to 2 ounces per feed. Once latched, baby will be getting much more milk than even the best hospital grade pump - what you can pump is not reflective of what baby gets when feeding. Additionally, if you're not getting much, this may be because baby has already removed it.

The time of day will also affect your supply - prolactin levels are highest eary hours of the morning between 3am and 5am and you're likely to be able to pump a lot more during these hours than you can during the afternoon and evening.

In terms of baby getting enough, are they gaining weight? How are nappies? This is the best way to determine whether your supply is enough.

Finally, I would recommend reaching out to your local infant feeding team - your HV can refer you. They will do home visits - mine were absolutely fantastic and I wouldn't still be breastfeeding without their support!

Ah OP, I really felt for you reading your post. I just wanted to reach out and say breastfeeding is really hard, and please don’t beat yourself up about how it’s going. Honestly I think a lot of whether it goes smoothly or not is pure luck. There are things you can do - @Shallana has covered a lot of it - and you may well just be off to a rocky start. But if you do find you can’t continue, please be gentle with yourself. Your baby will thrive and feeding honestly is only one small part of motherhood. I wouldn’t have believed that at this stage myself, but I only say this because I was utterly obsessed with breastfeeding when I had my son, it felt primally important, but 3 years down the line I can see how hard I was on myself. I’m now on baby 2 and breastfeeding has been tough again! But less so. I’ve got there in the end with both babies.

Practically speaking, I’ve found these videos helpful: https://www.llleastcambs.org.uk/videos my midwife reminded me as well that taking care of yourself as best you can will help too, eat well and try and get some breaks.

You sound like you’ve had a tough time with the birth and now feeding. I’m just a stranger on the internet I know, but I’m rooting for you. Best of luck xx