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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Breastfeeding after planned caesarean

37 replies

kjleddy · 28/01/2010 12:54

I am due to have a planned casaerean a week before my due date and have been told by a (rather unpleasant) mid-wife that I won't be able to breastfeed as my body won' t have gone into labour naturally and will not know to produce milk. I am devastated as i couldn't breastfed my first baby due to an undiagnosed tongue tie. Is this true? Does anyone have any experience of this or any tips as to how I could encourage it to work for me this time?

OP posts:

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corblimeymadam · 28/01/2010 13:13

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belgo · 28/01/2010 13:14

Send this to your midwife

belgo · 28/01/2010 13:17

glad things are going well with your dd2 belgianbun

corblimeymadam · 28/01/2010 13:18

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StealthPolarBear · 28/01/2010 13:20

a friend of mine had 2 CS (2nd one had some complications which led to her being separated from her baby for a few days) and she bf both for over 6 months

TuttiFrutti · 28/01/2010 13:23

Where do these midwives get their information from? This sort of ignorant scaremongering makes me so angry: it is utter, utter bollocks.

I breastfed with no problems after 2 c-sections, one emergency after a long labour, one elective. There is no medical evidence that having a cs affects breastfeeding at all.

What triggers milk production is the placenta becoming dislodged, so any time in labour is irrelevant.

jellybeans · 28/01/2010 13:23

Not true. I had an elective section and bf for 11 months. I also bf my twins, 2nd one born by crash section and after not seeing one of them for 3 days (he had formula till then). Good luck, you can do it!

belgo · 28/01/2010 13:27

just answered on your thread BB

I've known several women to successfuly bf following elective c-sections.

mazzystartled · 28/01/2010 13:31

That midwife was 1. wrong and 2. mean to say so.

FWIW I had an elective with my daughter and she bf like a dream.

Good luck and please don't be deterred.

witchwithallthetrimmings · 28/01/2010 13:34

bf ds for 13 months following crash section (failed induction) and am still going strong with dd at 12 months following elective

key was holding her lovely gooey body (they did not wash the vermix off) while i was being stiched up and feeding in recovery, midwife put her on my tummy and she (dd) knew instinctively what to do.

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 28/01/2010 13:39

What an awful midwife! I breastfeed successfully for 6 months (and could have done longer) after my elective c-section a week prior to my due date. I did find it a bit tricky BUT that was more due to a voracious feeder and the slightly tricky football hold you have to get used to post-section.

I would complain about her, that is truly upsetting and plain wrong advice.

branmuffin · 28/01/2010 14:17

I'm another that agrees this is absolute bollocks. I am breastfeeding ds2 very successfully after an elective c-section one week before due date. Actually doing a much better job breastfeeding this time than first time round with ds1 who was a normal (somewhat traumatic) vaginal birth!

humptynumpty · 28/01/2010 14:20

another sucessful bfeeder x2 here following 2 elective sections.
That is bullshit!!
My dd had to go to intensive care overnight and was cup fed but started bf in the morning and did it for 6 months.
Don't listen to her

Chynah · 28/01/2010 14:53

I would be seriously worried about the qualifications of a midwife who believes this - she should be reported.

I've had an elective section and fed son.

muppetgirl · 28/01/2010 15:00

I had an elective with ds 3. I was told my milk may take longer to come in -a day later- and to let him feed as much as he wanted. He was born on the mon and my milk didn't come in till the fri. He was getting distressed so I gave him top ups. After my milk came in all was fine and we just had the 1 bottle at 10pm that dh gave (so I could get some sleep as we have ds 1+ ds2 and no help) We didn't have to do the F/F at 10pm it was our choice so I can say you can b/f after an elective c-section!

Lotster · 28/01/2010 15:05

Bollyollyollocks!

I also fed successfully in recovery. I was on my side for nearly an hour anyway, so asked them to pop her next to me and help her latch on. No probs. Think I fell asleep due to the morphine and so did she after a while but it was lovely.

Even if you don't have much colostrum there, your baby (who might not need much) will need to suckle to get things moving anyway, so earlier the better.

Don't worry, even if they're just practising you'll be bonding

Mummy2day · 28/01/2010 15:05

Hiya, i also fed fine after an elective section! though took a while to get things going, had to spend most of the first 2 days on a pump til it came in but all fine in the end! good luck! there is no reason for it not to work due to section though it may take a bit of extra effort to kick start your body. Good Luck!

mummynumnum · 28/01/2010 16:20

Emergency cs with dd1 and fed like a nutter moment went back to ward. Asked if dc due by cs week fri can be put straight to my chest. Think your me talking nonsense.

posieparker · 28/01/2010 16:23

I have had four sections and bf very successfully after each. Electives I bf in recovery within half an hour.

LurcioLovesFrankie · 28/01/2010 16:33

I too bf after CS - though it did take 5 days and quite a lot of effort with the heavy-duty hospital pump before the milk came in (didn't succeed long term, but that was hormonal problems for me, not CS).

victoriascrumptious · 28/01/2010 21:19

Never had a problem with bf-ing after a cx. Might be helpful to get a breast pump in case you need a bit of extra stimulation. My milk came in on day 2 and I was using the pump as well as bfing

victoriascrumptious · 28/01/2010 21:20

Probably over did it a bit in hindsight.

AngeChica · 28/01/2010 21:42

want to add to this. I had a CS after failed induction so I never went into labour. The difference was I had a big bleed on the operating table, came close to having a blood transfusion, and I did find BF a struggle. I got there in the end - I had a peer supporter & BF counsellor from my local BF group (based at my local Surestart) which was ace. I was very anaemic and felt weak and shaky after feeds for the first couple of weeks.

I did a bit of research afterwards and some studies have shown that heavy blood loss and anaemia can affect milk coming in. Clearly the midwife is being very silly here though, as my case shows, with encouragement even if this outcome happens, you CAN still BF.

Meglet · 28/01/2010 21:47

I had gallons of milk after my em cs, although ds took 3 weeks to latch on, but was able to express plenty for him. After my planned cs I had more milk that I knew what to do with (expressing and freezing the stuff 4 days after the birth) and started to wonder if dd would actually end up obese.

Its hard because you'll be on drips and monitors but just take it carefully and get lots of help (midwives and your dh) and you should be ok. I also found a private room made it easier as I had peace and quiet to get on with it.

mcflumpy · 28/01/2010 22:39

My milk took just under a week to come in but DD latched straight away. She did lose quite a bit of weight but gained rapidly once milk came in. Still going strong at nearly 8 months. Best of luck, hope it works out for you.

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