Why does a Csection delay milk coming in?

[brightredballoon]

Hi

I wasn't sure if I would be better posting this in Childbirth or in this section.

I had a forceps delivery with an epidural first time round and milk came in 3 days later, then second delivery was a crash section under general anaesthetic and my milk came in 2 days later. I am now expecting DC3 and will likely end up with an elective section. I have read that a csection can delay your milk coming in but mine was faster after my cs than with the forceps delivery. Does anyone know - is this because it was a general anaesthetic ? Is it the spinal or epidural that delays the milk or the operation itself? As I have breastfed before with milk coming in 3 and 2 days post birth is it reasonable to hope that it will be as quick coming in this time round or am I being naive? (in which case do I need to prepare myself for the midwives to want to give DC3 formula?)

Thanks in advance.

I had one in labour section and one not in labour and neither affected my milk coming in,it was roughly the same each time,about three days.

I had a cs under general last time which turned into a stay in the ITU so didnt feed dd for 24 hours - milk still came in perfectly normally - as it had with my first emcs.

Hasnt there been a big study about this recently - your previous bf history matters more than the delivery method...

You'll have colostrum from way before giving birth, ready for the first hours/days. This is enough until your milk comes in.

I had an em cs, milk came in on day 5. Colostrum fine, dd lost no weight at all even.

I think it's something to do with the hormonal process. Your body going through labour and delivering triggers a response, telling you to make milk etc. This response is interfered with when you have a cs. Not always though.

Thanks for the replies, hopefully going by what you have all said that my milk will come in at a similar time to my other experiences.