C Section next Wed- anything I can do to help my milk come in?

[rightsaidfred]

I am having an elective CS on Wed and was wondering how best to start off with breastfeeding.
This will be my second section and we got off to a shaky start with bf last time and DS1 lost 1lb(just over 10%)of his body weight. I was quite bloody minded and refused the midwifes attempts to give him formula and strongly believe that this was the main reason I exclusively BF and continued BF til he was 15months old.
I was hoping to avoid some of the battles and stress this time!
I'd like to have more of 'a plan' this time- something like putting baby to the breast for 10 minutes every hour (DS1 was sleepy and never really demanded to be fed at the start) and am interested to hear any success stories

I didn't do anything special. Just put baby to breast when he cried (sometimes not for a few hours). Milk came in on third day and all was well.

My first was an em cs and bf was a nightmare.

After my planned cs I put dd to the breast all the time. Once she'd been fed and winded I'd go to the loo, rest for a bit, have a snack then usually wake her up to get her to feed again. Milk came in within 3 days and had loads of it. TBH I was pretty obsessive about it and kept a record of every feed for the first 2 months, even what side she fed on . If it was day light then I didn't let her go long without a feed, she put on a lot of weight very quickly.

Good idea to have a plan - like a birth plan but for your ecs. There is no reason why you can't have skin to skin contact with your babe as soon as he/she is out. You may need to adjust your clothing (wear your gown with the ties at the front) - but you will need to discuss this with your HCPs. If they say no, ask why not? Have you got someone to support you through this? May be useful to have DH to back you up on this too.

When back in recovery - ask for a sidecar cot if one is available in your hosptial - but anyhow keep your babe near you and skin to skin as much as possible.

The main issue with ecs is that the baby is not expecting to be born just yet and may not behave as a newborn who has been stimulated by labour.

Skin to skin contact will help to stimulate your babe's newborn reflexes which make him want to feed.

The removal of your placenta will do the same for you - you will start to make milk once that is gone.

I can't stress enough the importance of skin to skin - but you need the support of the people looking after you too, to help you manouvre with your wound.

Laid back breastfeeding, with your babe draped on your tummy may work really well as you can relax and just have babe tucked down your nightie as much as possible.

Is your hospital Haby Friendly?

Sorry for long post - I could write more...

Good luck and you have so much on your side - you've done it before, so you know how it should feel

• you really want to do it

Get the number of a local BF Counsellor before you go in - or call her first. She may know more about what may happen in your hospital and be able to help you devise your plan.

I'll go now cos I'm rambling!

I did very little - had no idea about skin to skin or that baby needed to go to the breast to gee up supply. Milk came in on day 3. (and how! )

Hope it goes really well for you - El CS is a much more calm experience. My docs and MWs (and DH)helped me put DS to the breast while in theatre and they were stitching me up. I didn't have to ask, that's just what they did. BF was fine. Your recovery should be much quicker too which helps.

Yes plan to co-sleep - I did this and DS suckled most of the first night. He didn't drop from his birth weight at all (I didn't think this was related, until I read the book Three In A Bed and it is mentioned in there)

Also skin to skin contact while they are stitching you up should be possible. If there are any complications you can ask for the baby to have skin to skin with your DH instead as this will keep the hormones flowing on the baby's side.

ok agree with anotherbearlover, also try baby at the breast every 3 hrs, if he/she not interested hand express some colostrum and give it to baby by cup/syringe.
C section born babies often have more mucous in their tummies which they need to throw up ,and once they do they become more interested in feeding. However they will be able to bring the mucous up easier the more fluid(milk/colostrum)they have because it loosens the mucous.A catch 22 really. So its sometimes a bit of syringe feeding some hand expressed colostrum the first couple of days.
Get the skin to skin as soon as poss for as long as poss after birth,and try to get the first feed under way in recovery as soon as poss as its often the best feed they have for first 24 hrs.

Both my DS's were born by ECS. 1st DS we had quite a few BF problems, 2nd DS came out rooting away and got straight on the breast as soon as back in recovery with no latching/feeding difficulties.
Fed very frequently, in fact I think whenever he was awake he was feeding. Offer both sides and if still wants more offer the first side again until 'done'. Milk started to come in day 3 I think.
Always thought oaks and water helped with supply too!

Your be a lot more relaxed. I think having a traumatic birth then dealing with being first time parents makes it all quite stressful.

Hope everything goes well Wednesday

yes drink plenty yourself(get someone to bring some nice hi juice squash you can mix if you don't like plain water) and bring flapjacks/ oat based snacks as oats are supposed to be great for milk supply.
Bring something for trapped wind like deflatine/windeze as that can be very painful 24 hrs or so after c section and hospitals often dont give you much for wind. even just normal rennies can help.

After my section I shook like billy-o. No holding babies for me! I heard a rumour that there is something they can put in your drip to stop that - maybe you could ask the doctor.

ellasmum1 I forgot about that trapped wind. I had to be given some tablet to relieve that a few times as it was excruciating!

I found it worse during the afternoon after the section as it wasn't trapped! Numb bum, couldn't hold it in........

oh yes the trapped wind is HIDEOUS! almost worse than contractions lol. I had emcs with ds1, i just put him to the breast a lot in the first couple of days, think milk came in on day 3. You might find its less stressful second time round as you will have more of an idea about how to do it in the first place...

Good luck and hope it all goes brilliantly!!

Had an elective CS last year. Baby wanted to go to breast roughly every 2-3 hours, sometimes more, milk came in on day 3.

Ask the midwives for a 'gynae cocktail' (peppermint flavoured water). Delicious and sorts out the trapped wind!

Good luck! I loved my CS, recovery was much better than I had anticipated.

with your second baby they do let you get on with it much more

Thank you so much for all the good advice and taking the time to reply. DH is very supportive of breastfeeding- no way I would have managed without his back up last time.

I did have an elective section last time and my recovery was very quick. By hook or by crook I was home after 24 hours- and only needed paracetamol post op. However, that might have been part of the problem and I fully intend to rest more this time and will almost certainly stay in the hospital a couple of days.

I didn't find the hospital very supportive of breastfeeding. In fact I think it was barely mentioned. This time (same hospital) there are breastfeeding posters everywhere and checklists in the antenatal notes for the midwives to discuss breastfeeding.... and still no one has mentioned it!

We managed skin to skin contact in theatre last time but I think we missed lots of opportunities during the rest of day one so can certainly improve there.

I think I will put baby to the breast every couple of hours rather than waiting for him to demand and can express if he isn't bothered. Neither of these things would have occurred to me last time.

Love flapjacks so relishing the chance to gorge on those! I am often guilty of not drinking enough fluids so I will set myself targets, get DH to nag me and take a bottle with a sports cap so I can keep it where I can reach.

I am hoping there will be an element of my body 'knowing' what to do this time- especially as I only stopped feeding DS1 a couple of months ago as I decided I did not want to tandem feed and wanted a clear break in between.

Is it too soon to start on the flapjacks now? How would I find the number of a breastfeeding counsellor nearby? Do I need to go down the LLL or NCT route?

Milk production is initiated by the removal of the placenta, and whether this is a natural thing or done by a surgeon is immaterial so the fact that you are having an electi9e should be neither here nor there.

Obviously like a natural delivery, skin to skin immediately after delivery and soome peace and quiet to bonde are key in getting BFing off to a flying start, as is good support and knowing where to find it, so take numbers into hospital with you for NCT etc helplines and find out who the hospital infant feeding co-ordinator is and how to reach her. I would also suggest asking whether there are any side rooms available as the noise and business of a normal PN ward can be pretty off putting.

feeding on demand is the key and skin to skin allows this to happen; waiting for 3 hours as suggested by someone might be too long for some babies.

Have a look at www.kellymom.com for info on milk production and how it works, be prepared for problems and know how to get help for them, relax and shut the world out as much as is practicable.....and Good Luck

I had my DC2 by elective section and my milk came in on day 2 because she was such a voracious little feeder and was permanently attqched for the first few days.

Can I just point out that I didn't suggest that the OP 'waits for 3 hours' between feeds, I just said that my baby wanted to feed every 2-3 hours - I was feeding on demand and this was what he demanded! I would never make a baby wait for a feed.

I'm not sure whether the time that milk comes in has much to do with cs or whether or not you were in labour. I had v long labour with DD1 before emergency CS and with DD2 and DS I had electives and no labour, but my milk came in on day two all 3 times. Drink loads, keep the baby next to you and feed and snuggle as much as you can. I had all my 3 of mine in bed with me in hospital as with the cs scar I couldn't be doing with getting up to haul them out of the bassinet to feed, so I just put up the side of the bed so they couldn't roll out and worked out a way to tuck them up comfortably next to me so I could feed lying down in the night and hardly move. Stay in hospital as long as they let you - I know - it's awful and you want to go home, but when you get home there will be a toddler and 101 other demands on your time so try and make the most of a couple of days in hospital with just the baby.