Breastfeeding advice when I need a hospital stay

[CamomileCream]

I'm panicking slightly. I have a 5 month old. He gets about 9 breastfeeds a day and 1 bottle which will be formula or expressed breast milk, he will usually take the bottle, occasionally refuses. Unfortunately I also have a lump and need surgery, I'm waiting for a date, likely to be next month. I won't know if follow up treatment is needed until after surgery.

I'm intending to express once I've recovered enough to do so. The anesthetic will be one that doesn't go through into milk. I'm hoping there will be a fridge on the ward/in a break room or something. DH and DM will be able to come and collect milk, say once each, so twice a day. I'm hoping to be only in for 2 days if all goes well. Is this a sensible plan? I don't know what I'm going to do about sterilising pump parts, maybe I need a second pump and more bottles? I want to keep breastfeeding if I can. He may be 6 months by the time I actually have the surgery so I may have introduced a solid/puree feed of some kind but obviously I don't want to just stop.

I might be able to have him in to feed him a couple times but the hospital currently has wards shut for flu and some kind of bug outbreak so I'm not sure I want him to come into the hospital but I don't want him to forget who I am either! Can you re-establish breastfeeding if he decides he prefers a bottle and doesn't know I'm his mum?

Didn't want to read and run! Hope your op goes ok. Immediate thoughts - anyone at the hospital you can speak to? I was at A&E once with one of my babies and asked to use an expressing pump and they were happy to borrow one from maternity. Not saying this is guaranteed but worth an ask. You could also ask about fridge and a microwave for sterilising. At the hospital I was at, they also arranged a fridge for the expressed milk. (NHS!) I'd definitely plan to express if you can as it'll be incredibly painful to go from EBF to nothing! Also expressing will help protect your supply and it should go back to normal pretty quickly with your baby. Two days isn't a long time in comparison to how long you've been breastfeeding for. Maybe some kind of cool bag if no fridge available?

I’ve recently stayed for two weeks in hospital on the children’s ward (with baby not as a patient) and a year ago for two days on a general ward as a patient with BF toddler at home, both while pumping, so hopefully what I did is some use. If the patient kitchen has a microwave then the sterilising bags are best, you only need to do this once a day and otherwise wash in warm soapy water - for two days you could reuse the same pump parts. You could have a few sets of bottles in rotation and decant into milk storage bags but they’d have to be careful transporting those home. The ward might have sterifeed bottles as they are used for NG feeding as well as BF and can just give you as many of those as you need, or you could order a set to take in. Both times I managed to get hold of a hospital grade double pump which made it all easier and it comes with the pump parts - can you ask in advance if that’s possible - or at least take yours but ask when you’re there
for one. They are a precious resource and someone once came from another ward to take mine back but I found nurses sympathetic to preserving BF and helping me pump. Take little sticky labels and a pen to put name, date, and time on your milk. If you don’t usually double pump, a pumping bra is brilliant so you can do other things with your hands - I’ve got the medela one. Be clear to nurse in charge that you’ll be pumping and will need curtains closed for privacy.

For two days in flu season I wouldn’t take the risk of bringing him in. My daughter went straight back to feeding after the time I was in for two days. By 5 months he knows what he’s doing and he definitely knows you’re his mum. I hope the operation and recovery goes well and that you are reunited with baby as quickly as possible when it comes round.

Email the infant feeding coordinator now and they may be able to assist! They can be really helpful when mums are re admitted to various wards and the Drs have zero clue. About either babies or risk of mastitis. Warm soapy water is ok for washing pumps.
Dont worry he won’t forget, it’s a short time mcuh shorter than he’s been feeding for :) if your family can bring him in that will also help.

This might also be useful

https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/day-surgery/

Ask to be put in touch with the infant feeding team in the hospital to support you during your admission

That’s a great point @fashionqueen0123. The infant feeding team got me the right size flanges from postnatal ward as my ward only had the standard ones.

I'm sorry to hear about your lump

I'm in the UK now, but when I worked in a hospital abroad, we'd occasionally admit mum and baby in your case to the paediatric ward. Only if mum's procedure was fairly straight forward and didn't require specialist care/monitoring etc. Its certainly worth asking what options are available.

Please get in touch with the hospital and explain that you are breastfeeding, and ask to speak to the infant feeding team to help you maintain your supply, store expressed milk and arrange for your baby to visit for feeds.

It’s perfectly possible to be away for a night or two, and continue to breastfeed, and the hospital will have policies to help you with this.

Just to clarify, is the lump in your breast?

Don’t forget it’s not just the anaesthetic that you’ll need to be mindful of, but also any painkillers.

Do you have other children that your DH and DM are caring for? If not, I’d be strongly lobbying for baby to stay with you throughout, and another adult to care for the baby. Particularly for a baby totally reliant on breastmilk this is NOT an unreasonable request.
Infant feeding team can probably help with this.

Thank you all so much! I'm just in a bit of a tailspin about it all. PFB baby so didn't have a huge clue even before this cropped up.
I'm making a list and will get myself a bit more organised. It hadn't occurred to me that the infant feeding team might help beyond the initial stages.
Lump is not in my breast.

They can be great to advocate for mums who might be told erroneous or unhelpful info by other wards. And to make sure things are in place before you are admitted. I’d definitely reach out to them. You can usually find their details on google.

Try Googling breastfeeding policy and your trust. Many trusts will admit you and baby to a private room where possible and allow an adult to be with you to care for baby. E.g. www.gwh.nhs.uk/media/mz5f4cpd/admissionofmotherswhoarebreastfeedingtogwhnon-maternityareaspolicy.pdf

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about baby catching something, as you'll be bringing any germs home anyway, and you'll be less likely to catch anything in a private room.

Thank you all so much for your help with this. I did not take the baby in as hospital has some flu cases and a ward shut with d&v. DH brought him in for a couple feeds a day (he was pleased to see me) and then I expressed a lot and DH took it home.
I read the policy so when the staff didn't know what to do, I did!
The CCU team enjoyed the small visitor! Got home yesterday, feel like death warmed up, but I'm home!

Glad it went well :)

Do you normally pump? A lot of this advice is about borrowing pumps etc. What sort of pump do you have? If you don't have an electric double, definitely hire or borrow a hospital grade one with correct sized flange adaptors and practice with it at home first.

After that, it's the same as pumping at work. You need to wash the parts thoroughly every time if you don't have a fridge, and every 12 hours of you do. Get at least 1 extra set. At 5 months, they don't need sterilising, but it will help if you can't wash them really well. If you're not going to freeze it, milk is ok in a cool bag with an ice block for 6 hours. Ask if it's ok for DH to bring the baby in one per day for a feed, you'll both feel much better if he can. Take sports ice packs for your breasts because you're likely to get sore. I went back to work at 5 months, which isn't 2 full days, but most of this is from experience and research done then.

Sorry, just seen your update! I'm glad it went ok and hope you feel better soon