Tiktol & others, please help! Just had an accident & can't bf my baby. Am heartbroken.

[Maria2007]

Hi Tiktok (and other bf experts), I need your help urgently!

Here's some background: I'm Maria (we've met on these threads before, I think). I'm breastfeeding my 5 & a half month old baby since birth. He's also used to taking bottles once in a while, since in the last 3 weeks we've been giving him one bottle of formula at 11. Under my current circumstances it's good that he's comfortable taking bottles.

So. Yesterday, around 4 pm, I had a bad accident. I fell on my face (onto a plate) & broke several teeth- some came out completely- and other teeth are misplaced. I will need extensive dental work. I also had big cuts all over my mouth, & was given extensive stitching at hospital (I went with an ambulance to A&E). As you can imagine the whole thing was extremely traumatic, I lost lots of blood & didn't know at first what was happening. I'm very relieved that the damage is only on my mouth & teeth, as it could have been so much worse. But it's likely there might be some reconstructive work needed in the future, let's see.

About the medications I'm taking: They gave me morphine at hospital, for the pain. And then lots of local anaesthesia for the stitching. They have now put me on 2 antibiotics (Amoclan & Amoxillin) & one strong painkiller (Diclofenac). Plus, some paracetamol as needed. I will also be doing dental work, starting today, & that too will likely require more anaesthesia & perhaps more painkillers. Hopefully all this treatment will be completed within a week or- more likely- 2 weeks.

In the meantime, I can't & won't breastfeed, not without getting advice (hence my msg here), because I'm very scared of giving all this medicine to my boy through the milk. At the same time, I don't know what to do. Last night after my return from hospital I expressed & threw the milk away (to relieve the engorgement). This morning I also expressed & threw it away. Should I express & throw it out? If so, when? My boy usually feeds every 3 hours or so. At night we give him one bottle of formula at 11 (and I express at the same time) & then we usually give him EBM at 3.30 or so- this too we started recently & it helped our baby's sleep- so he's used to bottles at night. The rest of his feeds have been direct breastfeeds. Should I express on that schedule & throw it out? Could I then continue feeding him- when this ordeal is over- perhaps EBM in bottles if he refuses the breast? (will he, most likely, refuse the breast after 1-2 weeks on bottles solely)? I was planning & hoping to keep up the bf until he's 1 year old or so, perhaps keeping up to 3 feeds a day on the breast. Is that completely wishful thinking at the moment? Should I just give up completely? I don't want to, not in this traumatic & sudden way, but I also need to rest & recover.

Any advice would be fantastic. I can't talk to a bf helpline so easily because- as you can imagine- I don't talk clearly because of my cuts in the mouth. Which is why I'm writing here. I've always got good advice here....

Thanks in advance.
maria

Maria - I am speaking to you mum to mum, not with my bfc hat on ('cos I cannot 'advise' on drugs, just share info) and I dont understand why you don't just breastfeed...your baby is upset, and I have read nothing that suggests he will be harmed in any way!

Look at the posts on here - inc the one from an anaesthetist - and just feed! Otherwise you are going to get engorged and maybe risk mastitis, and your little boy will not understand why he can't have his lovely feeds from you.

Why don't you breastfeed???

Maria - am really sorry to hear of your accident - how dreadful - are you in London btw? If so could definately help you out...

Agree with Tiktok - just feed the baby. As Rempy says the drugs are all fine - I was on intravenous morphine every 3 mins when dd was newborn for a week as well as lots of other drugs and all was fine.

Can you get your dp to go out and get some nutrishake drinks as well?

Oh you poor thing Please BF your baby - I was in hospital with my 3 day old baby 3 weeks ago and was prescribed the EXACT combination of drugs as you (after having IV antibiotics for couple of days). I am BF and checked with the pharmacist who came round, and she said it was absolutely fine. If it is safe for a 3 day old baby it has`to be safe for a 5 month old.

if you are up to it then I would go ahead and bf

Maria - is it that your parents are still saying you shouldn't bf? That can be difficult to cope with when you are feeling so awful....they are there in RL and here we are on the flippin web....hard to compare.

Maybe get your dp to read this thread and back you up?

Sorry to go on - but I actually think it's really important you do feed. You can't express, and stopping cold turkey like this is a very high risk of mastitis which you absolutely do not want on top of your injuries.

Were you admitted to the hospital or just treated in A&E? Would you want to phone them and ask about the medication?

Feed feed feed. Just getting the milk out will make you feel better [I have a personal unproven theory that having it in there sends us loopy lou when we are established feeders]

I bet you really can't face it or anything else either but I bet it will go ok once you can chill and let down and the feed happens and I bet it makes you feel loads better. Take to bed with babba. The feeding hormones will help you feel better too. A nice prolactin and oxcytocin surge will do you all the good in the world.

All xxx to you.

Maria, I had a GA and various other painkillers including morphine and diclofenac for an operation when my DD was three months old and I specifically asked the surgeon and anaesthetist about BF (DD was a bottle-refuser) and they said it was fine. Please do feed your baby. Just stopping cold turkey like this must be terribly distressing for him.

Also, I had a local for an episiotomy and fed my daughter approx ten minutes later and throughout the night so am sure that wouldn't be a problem.

Maria, sorry about your horrible accident.

As you've been advised it's ok to continue with bf, I would just get into bed & do it !

You're feeling rotten & the last thing you'll want is to have guilt on top.

I had a terrible hangover (only once!) & spent the day in bed with dd2. She was 7mths & just lay next to me in bed, feeding & sleeping. He can have a lovely time snuggling up to you

I've also had 2 x ga & fed the next day & we were all fine.

Hope you heal soon (ps zinc is excellent to help you heal, so see if someone can get you a decent supplement of 15mg a day)

Maria,

I'm a m/w and second what others have said about those meds been fine to b/f on. Morphine is routinely given to post lscs women, ditto diclofenac. Amoxcillin is also given to postnatal women if needed.

Hope your mouth gets better, sounds very traumatic.

Maria - so sorry, what a nightmare. You've had two medical professionals and one v exp bf counsellor reassure you you wont hurt your baby - please bf him! Trust me, you dont want mastitis on top of the pain you are in, you poor thing.

A friend of mine had her jaws wired together for 6 weeks after reconstructive surgery and she sippped milkshakes etc through a straw and later soup and purees. Please send your family out NOW to get you some and then go to bed for some rest. You cant think straight until you get some food inside you. Hope you feel better soon.x

Back again, Maria, I hope you have spoken to NHS direct who I'm sure will have re-iterated what we have said.

Please, if you want to continue breastfeeding, feed your baby today. You will not harm your baby. You seem to be punishing yourself.

If you do not want to continue breastfeeding, by all means stop.

You need to get some straws, and drink though, or making milk is going to get tough.

I lost my supply for about 24 hours (after a car crash). It picks up again, albeit slowly.

Things that helped: skin to skin, warm baths together, lots of feeding, and staying close.

Just wanted to wish you a speedy recovery and hope you manage to get everything sorted.

I cannot add to what the others have already said, but hope you get better very soon. the accident sounds awful -so painful and upsetting for you.

I hope you've had enough info here to help you make a confident decision about the breastfeeding. If you feel you need more specific advice on your drugs, then you could as your partner or someone else to phone the BfN drugline for you tomorrow on 0844 412 4665. I believe there is an answer machine and if you leave all the info requested here then someone should call back.

Sending lots of ((((hugs)))) your way.

Maria, you do not need any more advice of the type I am capable of, just sending you good wishes and hoping you improve soon.

Oh Maria, how horrendous. Wishing you a speedy recovery (and hoping you have been able to feed your lo in confidence by now)

I agree with the others, keep feeding!

I had a GA last week to deliver my baby (the anaethatist - after prodding my back several times and me almost flying across the room each time - thinks I have a fracture to the important vertebrae for the injection so wouldn't do it); and I tested ?UTI during labour. So I have had pretty much all the same drugs - GA, ABs, morphine, Diclofenac and co-dydramol (amongst some others) - this week. My daughter was taken to the NNU because she was too small for a ward so she was NG fed for awhile because I wasn't well enough to be with her but she was breastfed from a day and a half.

I read someone (on here possibly) say they woke up from a GA delivery to find that they had already breastfed their baby!

HI Maria.

I am a dentist.

There is nothing in your dental treatment (including local anaesthetic) that will adversely affect your breastmilk.

As others have said, I strongly recommend you feed your baby as per normal.

It could well aid your own recovery in making you feel calmer, and removing the distress you clearly feel about the possibility of stopping breastfeeding him.

Dear Maria,
so sorry about your accident, how horrible for you!! Sending you love and hugs and smooches and ice packs (all the way from Canada so you know they'll be cold!!) and whatever else you need.

I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you, but may I just say thank you to tiktok and rempy and treedelivery and everyone else who has posted with their professional opinions, as this is a topic of burning interest to me. My darling, darling DS is almost 11 months old and I am scheduled for an OP on Feb 9 to repair some of the damage done by his horribly mismanaged birth, and I was terrified that this might mean weaning him. I was planning on taking my breast pump to the hospital and "pumping and dumping" but didn't know if I would have to continue doing that when I come home and when it would be safe to feed him again... it has been quite stressful to think about and I thank you all for your input. DS is still almost exclusively breast-fed (he eats bits and bobs) and he looooooooooooves nursing, it's our sweet cuddle time together and I was worried I'd have to stop. So, thank you, everyone, and Maria, I hope you feel better soon, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!!!!!!!!!

Good luck with your op Jacksmama.
Be sure to get individual advice for the meds you will be taking and then cross reference them with the bnf or similar so you can make an informed choice. It's great when a load gets lifted isn't it!

Hope your feeling better Maria you poor thing.

Hello everyone again. It's now sunday morning, I still haven't breastfed my boy because to be honest I'm confused, I really don't want to harm him, but on the other hand, after reading this thread (I just read the most recent replies now) I'm more reassured to maybe start bf again. I did talk to NHS direct last night. They confirmed that the antibiotics are fine, 'unless my boy is sensitive to them'. Well how can I know that?! He has never had antibiotics. Also, they said that they can't advise about the diclofenac, that there's not enough info on it, and thus they don't advise I bf on that, so they said I could switch to nurofen which is fine. I took diclofenac this morning at 8, and so I'm thinking of starting on nurofen from now on, and at 7 in the evening tonight to attempt bf again. But I'm so scared that I might be doing the wrong thing, and I haven't even had the chance to talk to my own GP about all this (she's very knowledgeable about bf & has helped in the past) It's sunday though so I can either follow this plan (my partner supports me with this) & attempt to bf again at 7 this evening... or wait until tomorrow morning to talk to my GP.

The main problem I have is that I'm exhausted because of not having eaten properly since friday morning. I did manage a few mouthfuls of mash potato yesterday evening, and then a few more mouthfuls this morning. I have also managed a few sipfuls of water (mainly with my medicine). Apart from the mouth being swollen, my teeth are also not ok, won't go into details so that I don't freak you out. But no dental work can be done before the swelling in the mouth goes down, that's what I was told.

Finally, my mother- thank god- is arriving today. This is a great relief since DP & I are exhausted & we're both shocked & traumatized by the amount of blood we saw (during the accident). So it's great that she's coming, and can look after me while DP and a babysitter- she's agreed to work more too these days- can help with the baby. But then the problem with my mother (as TikTok has mentioned) is that she's against me bf my boy, and thinks I should take this 'pill' to dry up my milk which I hate as an idea.

Hello Maria.

It's good that you're getting some help, but, if you want to keep bf-ing your son, try to ignore your mum's "advice". It would be an added trauma after all the horrible things you've been through with your accident and face with future ops if you then also had regrets about stopping bf-ing. So many women on these boards mourn this kind of decision.

I can't imagine the pain and stress you're going through, but try to keep strong about this. We're all thinking about you here! I couldn't stop worrying about you yesterday, I must admit.

Could your DH make you smoothies and milkshakes with added stuff? That might be a way of getting nutrients in?

Look after yourself.