Mastitis and expressing

[Dixie29]

The GP said I have mastitis following a few days of high temp plus a painful hard boob. Should've probably sought help earlier as I'm feeling pretty rubbish! I really can't face feeding my daughter, I've always struggled as it is and I'm feeling so bad plus very anxious. She never manages to empty my boob anyway (probably hence the infection).

Am I OK to just express for the next while and do bottles? It's making me feel a lot calmer as my stress and anxiety is pretty bad but all the advice is saying feed feed feed which is the last thing I can face right now

Yes of course. FWIW I exclusively pumped for the first 6 weeks, never got mastitis. Do what is comfortable and right for you, chuck out the rule book! Just make sure you stick to a loose schedule for the pumping so you don't engorge and make it worse.

It might help holding a warm flannel over the affected bit when you pump.

Get well soon!

I had this problem too. Having ended up in hospital with DS at day 5 because he was too underweight, I expressed for a few weeks to make sure he was getting enough milk. I went back to BF and due to boobs not emptying properly, bleeding and blocked ducts, I decided to go back to expressing. I am still exclusively expressing at 5 months and it causes me so much less stress than BF. I am happier which makes DS happier too. Do what is best for you. Everyone has their own opinion but everyone is different and therefore a set rule is unrealistic