Breastfeeding after a C Section

[Blahblahblahyadayadayada]

I will be having an ELCS. I wonder is it worth taking my own pillow into hospital to maximise my chances with comfort and therefore success. If so, what would anyone recommend?

With my first baby, I had an awful labour and birth and an absolutely awful time of it all really. I had to have surgery afterwards and DC was hungry so the midwife choices them while I was on the table. I recall trying and trying in hospital and it seemed sort of successful eventually but in hindsight there was possibly not a good enough latch. Having said that, I was very traumatised and still have not got over the birth!

I ebf for 7 or 8 days but DC did not gain enough weight and I could not get an adequate supply. I was exhausted and it just wasn't working.When the midwife suggested I express inbetween feeds, I could only express a teaspoon or so. I did not know about a breastfeeding support group that was actually very close to home; the one they told me about was in the hospital I had just had a traumatic time in and who wants to bother with a hospital with no parking etc. Not that I felt up to leaving the house anyway.

I'm just looking for a decent pillow/cushion that may help, as, I'm hoping for a bit more success this time, although I will not beat myself up about it if it doesn't work out this time. I'm also conscious that they generally kick you out of hiatal after 48 hours after a C section, so my milk supply might not actually have got going yet.

Many thanks.

[welshgirlwannabe]

Just to offer a bit of encouragement - I bf fine after my emcs. It was possibly a little bit trickier than my first, vaginally birthed baby, as cs babies can be sleepy and full of mucus.

However - this sleepy stage only lasted for the first 48 hours and I dealt with it by stripping him down to just a nappy and leaving my top off. We stayed in bed like that as much as possible and I just left him with permanent access to a nipple, even if he wasn't latched on. This really helped.

The hardest part was having to lean over and get him out of the bassinet. I eventually insisted that we be 'allowed' to co-sleep so that I didn't have to keep reaching over which hurt.

With both of my babies cosleeping has been the number one best thing I did in terms of establishing a breastfeeding relationship that works for me. I wish I had read more about it in ng first pregnancy as it could have saved me a horrendously exhausting time during the first two weeks of ds1s life.

Good luck. You may be suprised and find it easier this time. I hope so!

[Bohemond]

The midwife helped DS to latch on straight away in the recovery room. I then used the rugby ball position for a few days as I found it easier (small boobs). I am quite small generally and used one of the half polo type solid pillows. It went most of the way around me and DS lay on top.

[Blahblahblahyadayadayada]

Bohemond do you mean half polo as in looks like a polo mint in half? Something like this:

www.mothercare.com/feeding-pillows/widgey®-nursing-pillow/LX1522.html?dwvar_LX1522_color=White&cgid=feeding_breastfeeding_pillows#sz=12&start=26

[BaskingTrout]

I struggled to bf after my emcs with dd but am now 4 months into bf'ing ds who was an elcs.
I know this isn't really what you asked but it might be worth looking into ante-natal expressing of colostrum. I really struggled with supply first time round and it gave me such reassurance to know that I had some already in the freezer in case we needed it. It gave me a bit of breathing space whereas with dd, I went straight to formula when I didn't have enough milk to give her.
The LLL have a good information sheet you can order which shows you how to do it and I ordered a load of syringes to store it in.
As it happened, I had a week of bed rest on the ante-natal ward before ds was born, so I spent most of it hand expressing and watching the olympics!

[Blahblahblahyadayadayada]

BaskingTrout, is this a widely practiced and accepted thing in hospitals? Would the hospital put the colostrum in a freezer for me? I suppose I can ask my midwife. I found that they couldn't give me a hot water bottle for health and safety reasons when I was recently admitted to hospital for back problems, I don't see them doing anything like this to help me ( I have no faith in my hospital!). Also, if you can't express any or much colostrum antenatally, does it follow that you'll struggle after the delivery too?
I think my previous labour and birth had a lot to do with my difficulties with feeeding last time.

[BaskingTrout]

I think so, but I'm no expert! All I can say is my hospital were very encouraging and helpful. When I said I was doing ante natal expressing, everyone seemed approving and said it was a good idea. I stored it in the fridge on the ward and DH took it home each day at visiting and put it in our freezer. He brought some back each day after ds was born, although I didn't need it so much because my supply was much better and I was still expressing in between feeds.
I know what you mean about the birth affecting the supply, my emcs in my first pregnancy was at full dilation after 2 days of active labour and 2 hours of pushing. I was utterly exhausted and physically wrecked.
Having said that though, my elcs was also a very difficult delivery for medical reasons and I had a big PPH, but my supply seemed less affected. But also maybe the expressing helped and maybe I was just a bit less stressed second time round.
As regards amounts, the amount of colostrum I was expressing to begin with was tiny, less than 1ml. But it did begin to build up and after the birth, it increased a lot.
It just felt like I was giving myself the best chance I could.

[BaskingTrout]

Meant to say, definitely talk to the community midwife. Mine was reassuring because I wasn't sure if the hospital would help. Also, look on the LLL website and search on here, I found a couple of useful threads.