Not breastfeeding

[GermanMum101]

Hey,
i am new here and got a question about breastfeeding.
I am not pregnant but am plannig to have a byby with my partner so of course do have some questions. I would have to start my job soon after giving birth and would prefere to bottle feed to to that and several pretty üersonal reasons.
In Germany where I am from originally you do get pills to prevent your milk coming in right after birth so you don't have to go through the whole procedure of drying the milk out etc if you are sure you want to bottle feed. I would love to do that.
Do you get pills like that from the hospital stuff in the UK? Thank you

no, I'm almost certain you don't get those here - I think the advice is just a tight bra and paracetamol.

Hi, GermanMum and welcome to mumsnet

UK practice has been the same for years - prescription drugs to cease milk production are normally given only to women whose baby has died and for whom milk production would be very distressing and uncomfortable. I dont think these drugs work to prevent milk production starting - once the placenta is delivered, milk production starts and I don't think there is much anyone can do about that...the body just kicks into gear.

It would be a good idea to talk about this with a midwife and to share your reasons for not breastfeeding - a good midwife will not judge you but she also has to ensure you know the health impact of not breastfeeding, so you can be sure you're making an informed decision. She should also know what the medication situation is likely to be.

Hope this helps.

Hey, thanks for your quick responses!
As I said I am not pregnant yet but do plan to ave a baby soonish and am trying to find out as much as possible at the moment. You mums probably know it, the baby fever ;)

I am a bit surprised you don't have these pills as they are used a lot here. They actually do prevent the milk coming in completely so you don't have to go through the pain, leaking etc.
I think it's a great thing as everyone I talked to and who had them said they enabled you to be fit much faster, i.e. no hurting breasts, tight bras and so on. So I would love to have them. I can get them with a perscription in German pharmacies but would not like to do that after birth myself as I think self-medication is never that great.

I will definately talk to a midwife once I am pregnant and really hope she won't be judging me.

hang around MN - there are plenty of trying to conceove (ttc) threads and antenatal clubs

I think it's 2 weeks, and only if you are an employee

I guess it's the same in Germany, not sure. I am working in the UK anyway. But as I said I would like to start early again and there are other reasons for me not to breast feed and I don't ant to go through all that trouble if it's so esily avoided.

Thanks Stealth Polar Bear, I definately will hang around

You're very well-prepared if you are not even pregnant yet

The reason the pills are not used here is because of concerns over the side effects - some of them were serious (included stroke). I don't know how common the serious side effects were - presumably not very common. The thinking is that nature does a good job of drying up anyway, so why use pills?

I think that the possible side effects of the pills have made their use over here much less prevalent - i.e. side effects outweigh the discomfort of just naturally riding out the leaking breasts.

I know that friend who absolutely could not feed (because of really bad drug combo) had to let it pass naturally.

Obviously, where psychologically the impact of breast milk production (i.e. baby has been still born or has died) are great, then they can be used.

Well I like to be informed early on. My friends alway make fun about it and say it's my German-genes ;)

I did not know that they have a lot of side effects, like I said they are used here for everyone who does bottle feed. That is really weird but good to know. I am not planing on being sick due to a few pills and not having time to meet the baby.

Yep - illegal for someone to work sooner than two weeks after the birth, four weeks if you work in a factory. Just checked.

Well I would never want to start that soon anyway. By soon I meant that I do not want to stay at home for longer than a few months.
Thanks for checking though, it is good to know!