Breastfeeding after Elective Csection

[RainbowFlowers]

So I'm hoping to have an elective c section. I had an emergency c section last time and wasnt able to breastfeed due to feeling awful as had an infection.

I really want to breastfeed this time around. Has anyone tried to pump milk before their c section (just like a day or 2) so that they know that they've got milk ready for when baby arrives?
Is it advisable? Did it work for you?

Thanks!!

I had an elective csection for my second baby and was able to breastfeed. I didn't pump beforehand, just let baby feed when she wanted and my milk came in properly after a couple of days which I think is fairly normal!

I had an elective last week. First time round, I had an EMCS after failed induction and my milk didn’t come in until day 5; DS lost a lot of weight and we ended up being readmitted to hospital. We did go on to successfully breastfeed but it was a rocky start.

This time round has been completely different. As with last time, I had colostrum before the birth but I did hand express and collect it in syringes from 37 weeks. But DC2 latched beautifully in recovery, and my milk came in on day 3 - he lost a fraction of the weight that his older brother did and I only used about half of the colostrum I expressed.

The hospital were very supportive of colostrum harvesting (it was their idea) but not until 36/37 weeks as it can bring on labour. Not the case for me, though!

I recently had a very positive ELCS however my milk didn't come in until day 5. DS lost so much weight that I gave up.

I had an ELCS, collected colostrum in a syringe day 2, then milk came through day 3.
Then exclusively bf with no issues for 6months.

There was no correlation in my NCT group between birth choice and how successful breastfeeding was. VBAC is no guarantee that bf will be straightforward.

If anything, the additional support I had with learning how to bf in hospital (because I was in for two days) helped enormously.

Also, don't have a meltdown if a midwife sensibly gives your baby a bit of formula on day 2. The world hasn't ended, it's not poison and not fatal to bf.
Most people lose all common sense (understandably) after birth - I certainly did!

You won't be able to pump milk before the baby arrives. You'll only be making colostrum which comes out a couple of drops at a time, even with the best pump in the world most of it would just stick in the tubing before it gets to a bottle. You may be able to hand express into a syringe which will eventually get you a few ml to get you started. This method is also good in the first day or two postnatally if baby is not latching, it can give them a little energy boost and encourage them to keep trying. Your proper mature, high volume milk will usually come in day 3-5 post-birth. Baby's stomachs are tiny at the start so they really only need a ml or two to be full - this is why they feed so often!

If you're having an ELCS, definitely ask for skin to skin in theatre and recovery afterwards (though some mums don't find it very comfortable in theatre). You can get baby trying to latch straight away. If possible, can you see if there are any local breastfeeding support groups you could visit before your baby arrives? You'll be able to chat to other mums about their experiences and get some more personal face-to-face help.

I had an elcs on the Friday at 12noon, milk was in when I got up Monday morning with rock hard round boobs. Ds did lose some weight but I don't think that was anything to do with the c sec.

I ended up with a sort of elective C-section as 4 rounds of pessarys didn't work when I was induced. I was 38+1 when I had baby and had only managed to harvest some colostrum the day before - half a syringe, then we did another 2 full syringes while I was waiting to head to theatre. I didn't get skin to skin until about 3 hours after she was born as I was really woozy (5th spinal was the one that worked and they'd given me something else!), we breastfed OK that day and the next but as my milk started to come in I wasn't producing enough to keep up her demand. I was cluster feeding for hours at a time and I'm honestly not exaggerating there, one of the midwives asked if I wanted a little bit of formula to top up her feed and she wolfed it down. They provided as many of the little ready made bottles as I / we needed even though I was still trying to persevere with breast.

I had an ELCS last week. Surgery on Thursday, DD latched on fine for colostrum within a couple of hours. My milk came in yesterday (so 3 days later) and I've been feeding her fine. I had to top up with formula until my milk came through though.

I had an elcs 3 months ago and now ebf. Had no trouble at all. I did bf my first son successfully though so that may have helped. I asked my midwife about harvesting colostrum and she said not necessary so I didn't bother.

There are lots of guidelines on expressing before the birth if your diabetic.... it’s handy to have as a bit of insurance if baby won’t latch. But it won’t do anything about your milk production as that won’t be triggered until the placenta comes out. Gentle hand expressing is all you need- not a pump and there are a few contraindications to antenatal expressing- maybe check with your midwife first to make sure...

Biggest way to help your milk production after birth is lots of skin to skin and early expressing (within 2 hours) if your baby hasn’t latched.