Fenugreek prior to ELCS?

[katiegolightly]

Hi everyone. I'm really keen to get breast feeding ASAP and would like the baby on the breast in theatre if possible. I'm hopeful I can persevere if milk takes a little longer to come in, but would like to do anything possible to aid this. I've read a bit about herbal supplements which increase milk supply - fenugreek, fennel, milk thistle, mothers milk (all as teas or capsules). In some articles, it's suggested that some of these can help milk to come in, as well as being a remedy for a low supply. I'd like to understand a little more about whether there's benefit in starting taking one of these the day before/of the ELCS to help get things going?

I'm aware of small risks of uterine contractions with some herbs and that for this reason they are discouraged in late pregnancy, but with an ELCS I'm not sure that this need be a real concern if the possible advantage is avoiding a panicky 4 or 5 days whilst things get going.

Any thoughts on this or other ideas on how to best prepare my body for this? Thanks everyone.

You might find it worth while posing this in the feeding section too. Good luck.

I have used fenugreek for low suppy, but not prior to an ELCS. It does have some contraindications though, so should be used with care.

I think another thing you could do would be to ensure lots of skin to skin as soon as you can and really frequent feeding to bring your milk in.

Yes, hoping skin to skin will be possible in theatre! Will have ask. Thanks both - just found feeding forum, posted there too.

I found fenugreek did nothing for me when I had supply problems with my boy - in fact it gave me horrible headaches.

The midwife did recommend Motilium though - it's a gastric reflux remedy with active ingredient domperidone, and one of the side-effects of the drug is that the body produces masses of prolactin, which is exactly what you need for breast milk.

I told the doctor about it and he shrugged, said he'd never heard of that, then prescribed it anyway and cheerfully said he'd be interested in the results. It worked!

I think you can take it while pregnant and it's certainly safe while breastfeeding.

Good luck :)

Can I ask if this is your first LO? Have you breastfed before?

I've just had a ELCS for DC2 and was keen to breastfeed this time as i had problems with possible low supply last time. I spoke to a feeding advisor on the ward just before and she made notes in my notes about supporting me. I was told that I would get skin-to-skin in recovery, but not theatre and having been through it I now see that because of where the curtain was put up (over the top of my boobs) there simply wasn't room and it would have been really difficult - I was so quickly into recover anyway and seem to be feeding much better than last time already (day 4). I was thinking about asking about things to sort out low supply, but it seems that this time round something is very different and I don't need it.

That's interesting to know, Herren - I guess the trick will be to try and do one thing at a time to understand what is working. Will go do some googling on Motilium.

Yes, first one babybouncer I will defo make sure I'm one of those annoying insistent girls shouting 'help me help me!'. I am also keen to ask in my pre-op if it's possible to have no screen at all, I've read in a couple of places that some hospitals may be flexible about this so worth asking. Am not at all squeamish or bothered about being manhandled, and even just 'lowering the screen' feels like I won't be as involved as I'd like to about seeing her lifted out.

Maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about but worth asking them!!

I had an ElCS and virtually no skin to skin. Milk came in with a vengeance on day 3. No issues. So please try not to worry. :)

Also I was trying too hard not to be sick to worry about what was going on the other side of the curtain. I could feel them bringing him out (not painful!) so I did feel involved in that way.

I think I might need to retract what I said about not being squeamish... I just made the mistake of watching a breach C Section on youtube and am now balling my eyes out. Have no idea why. I think I'm in shock.

I don't think there's any particular reason to worry about supply just because you are having an ELCS. It seems to be more common to have problems with positioning and attachment because of the scar and possible reduced mobility. I would practice positioning in advance if I were you. And feed, feed, feed in the first hours and days! Good luck!

oh dear katie.

I've only ever watching c-sections on OBEM and was too quite taken aback - they seem fairly brutal. That said, I've heard of lots of women having very positive experiences of them...calm and in control, and they managed to get some skin to skin in theatre.

I had an ELCS just over two weeks ago and it was absolutely fine! Recovery wasn't difficult and we had no problems with feeding at all. We didn't get skin to skin in theatre, but we were only in there for about 30 minutes. We then fed in recovery and everything has gone very well since. My milk came in on day 4. Just try not to panic about it!

To be honest, even if you had the screen down you wouldn't be able to see anything over your bump.

From what I've read, the stimulus to start milk production is the explusion of the placenta. Since this happens for all labours (and one of the most prolific breastfeeders I know had a horrific birth and crash C-section) I wouldn't worry!

FYI I had a VB, loads of skin-to-skin and the littlebugger darling still flat-out refused to breastfeed. Skin-to-skin isn't a magic bullet, sadly...

I wouldn't worry about ELCS affecting breast-feeding. I had a planned c-sec 10 months ago and am still b/f with no problems. I didn't have skin-to-skin in theatre, but was able to have skin-to-skin in the recovery area soon afterwards. Milk came in just fine. C-sec was a lovely experience btw. Good luck!