Breastfeeding and pregnant - worried.

[Besom]

I have been reading stuff on Kellymom this morning about bfing while pregnant (because I am indeed pregnant and dd is 20 months) and have got myself into a bit of a tizzy.

This is because it says it's perfectly safe in most cases but might not be if there is a risk of m/c or early labour.

During my last pregnancy I developed something called a haemangioma which is apparently quite unusual and they were not sure why/what it was exactly. It resulted in a lot of bleeding throughout the pregnancy.

Before they had decided it was relatively benign, they had admitted me to hospital saying I was going into labour at 23 weeks.

They had got it wrong, fortunately, and I didn't go into labour. So they said 'go about your usual business, there is no reason you won't have a normal birth, but don't do strenuous excercise and don't have sex just in case'.

So the upshot is that I'm not sure if I may be at a higher risk regarding the breast feeding. (I hope I am making sense here).

It's worrying me and every time I feed dd I'm getting very anxious.

Has anyone been in a similar position and if so what did you decide to do?

I had never heard of the link between bfing and m/c until recently - I think it is an attitude more prevalent in the US. I stopped bfing DS1 when I was pregnant but only because it got too painful, and I carried on until I was past 5 months anyway. Could you ask your mw?

yes, ask MW or consultant
congratulations

I carried on bf until about 6/7m pg with no problems. My mw said the risk was very very tiny and I took her at her word. I'd ask, just in case there might be a reason not to in your case.

Thank you!

Am going to GP tomorrow so I'll ask if she will write to the consultant that I saw last time.

Although I'm also worried that they will tell me to wean 'just to be on the safe side' when there may not actually be that much of a risk.

I wish I'd not read it and I would just have been in blissful ingnorance! Google is not always the best thing when you're pregnant.

Can I ask both of you who weaned while pregnant how you went about it?

I breastfed all the way through with no probs at all,I have never heard of a link,I think the human race would have died out long ago if this was a common occurence,how many weeks are you now?

afaik there isa link though. I'm sure it's small in low risk pregnancies but the OP has already said she is higher risk. I'm not suggesting stopping now, just getting it checked. Ikwym about them just telling you to stop though - but at least see what they say first, you might be pleasantly surprised .

I got pregnant whilst bf'ing DS1 when he was 12 months. I got pregnant on the first cycle after my period returned. I had a mmc at 13 weeks. Whilst I didn't find any concrete evidence that bf'ing contributed to my mc, I did decide to stop before we tried again as I felt I needed to get my body back as completely as possible before we tried again. I was concerned about my age and we had also had a mc prior to conceiving DS1, so although I was not particularly "high risk" I just didn't want to go through the trauma of a third mc and wonder if I should/could have done anything differently. Fortunately, we successfully conceived again straight away and we had our baby a few weeks ago. I am not advocating that you stop I just wanted to share my experience.

Thank you HappyBump. I'm sorry for your experience, but congratulations! I think I would have taken the same decision if I were you. I will speak to the medics and then decide in my own case.

I'm only 5 weeks, so very early days anyway.

Besom, If your GP does recommend weaning, it is reasonable to ask him, what he is basing his diagnosis on and what the exact level of risk is and then you will be able to make an informed decision.

i breastfed through my second pregnancy, and am still bfing through my third -

negatives - perhaps a little bit more tired than i otherwise would have been - and needing to drink more.

positives - i got married @4months pg and it had helped me keep my weight down to wear my dress!

the risk of miscrraige just for no reason at all is the main problem - and the main thing i worried about. as ever, find out exactly what increase and whether that is really meaningful...

good luck with your pregnncy - jsut remember the most likely thing is you will have a lovely healthy baby.

Thanks so much everyone who has replied to me. I do feel a bit better about it this morning.

I have an excellent gp so I'm confident she will do her best for me.

Re: weaning while pg - DS1 was down to one feed a day (at bedtime) by that point. I just told him that the milk was gone and we cuddled and read a story instead. Was much easier than I expected - it was harder cutting down on day/night feeds when he was younger.

He did ask a few times when I was feeding DS2, but as he'd been perfectly happy not feeding for months I was reluctant for him to start again! Though that would be your call

How old was he Effie?

My dd screams blue murder if I try to refuse her and she has also started feeding loads and loads in the last few weeks and has gone back to wanting to be fed to sleep.

I can sometimes distract her for a wee while but she doesn't forget about it for long!

If you do need to wean, if my experience is anything to go by it'll be easier when you are pregnant!

We're just down to fairly short morning and evening feeds and that was because it was just too uncomfortable to feed all the time, and DS seemed to be able to see that I wasn't just saying no / limiting feeds because of a whim - I think he could tell it hurt! It just sort of happened and he's been very relaxed about it, although I don't think he would be so happy if I dropped the remaining ones!

I breastfed through my pregnancy and for a few months after the birth of my 2nd I tandem-fed. There were lots of benefits: I had gestational diabetes and breastfeeding when pregnant helped lower my blood sugar and keep the weight down. After the birth my toddler was quite happy to feed more and "help" DS2 learn how to feed.

Sadly mc is common anyway and I suspect that they have no idea if breastfeeding is a contributory factor. My consultant told me that 2 miscarriages doesn't necessarily mean that a 3rd will follow: he also knew I was breastfeeding and he never told me to stop!

Thanks all.

I've just spoken to a midwife who said she did not forsee any problems with me continuing to feed .

I dropped daytime feeds at 13 months? and night feeds at about 15 months. I was working 4 days a week by that time, so dropping the day feeds was easier. Night feeds involved some controlled crying as he was not sleeping as well as feeding all the time. Then to feeding night and morning, then night only.

Some children do self-wean when you're pg as the taste of the milk changes (didn;t happen to me though!)

I'd just sait and see how you get on tbh. Best of luck

She keeps saying 'yucky mummy' - but she still dives in!

good news

Glad you got the answer you wanted

I'm currently 9 weeks pg and still bf my 15mo daughter. Before having her I had a miscarriage and so was concerned I might be putting this new life at risk. I got hold of a book called "Adventures in Tandem Nursing (breastfeeding during pregnancy and beyond)" by Hilary Flower, and there is a bit in there about miscarriage. Whilst there seems to be no proof either way on this subject, she does point out some very interesting known things. The risk of miscarriage is generally considered to be because breast stimulation releases oxytocin (it does) and oxytocin causes contractions (it does). The interesting part is that until very late in pregnancy, the receptors in the uterus which pick up the oxytocin and tell the uterus to contract are either not there or are "switched off". This was enough to persuade me that it's safe to continue.

DorsetDormouse - that's interesting. I must get that book.