is it possible to breast feed after 4th degree tear?

[sunshinesupermummy]

hi have also posted in the breastfeeding section but thought i would try in here aswell as there seems to be alot of mums in this section.

posting on behave of best friend, just given birth to a beautiful baby girl yesterday, however the birth did not go too well and she ended uo getting a 4th degree tear and having to have it repaired in the operating theater.
she is still in hospital well they both are but the midwives keep telling her that not to worry about breastfeeding as it will be too difficult for her.
don't want to be seen as bossy but is there anyone out there that can help
it is difficult to get in to see them as they are both on the high dependency unit.is this hdu the same as intensive care?
and has anyone else been through this and able to offer her any tips ?

thankyou for all your replies, ill let you know how we gt on tomorrow.
i will check this thread in the morning befor i go, so if theres anything anyone can add please do
thanks again

ok off to the hospital now via boots.
ill pass on all of your kind comments and helpful tips.

Let us know how your friend is doing

just got back from the hospital, she is still on the hdu and still has the catheter in? i asked the nurse if that should still be in, she replied it's fine, there was urine in the top of the tube, so again i said, i think you had better change that bag. the nurse again said no thats fine for a while.
she is taking augmentin antibiotics.
she seems v unwell, she really wants to bf but she said the nurses and mw are not helping her, and keep saying most women that end up on here [meaning hdu] don't bf, this is her 1st baby.
ive been able to help her today by passing baby to her and helping her latch baby on but im no expert, she said she was asking in the night for the mw to pass her the baby but the mw was pretending not to hear herand looking at lastminute dot com on the internet on the ward ! why the hell do they have the internet on the ward?
the mw have given the baby some formula and ive explained this will not help, ive asked if i could donate some of my breastmilk to her instead of formula, i had a 6 month old and they hav said certainly not.
are they able to not allow me to donate milk to my friends baby? my friend would prefer her to have that than formula, but we realise bf from friend would be best for both of them
someone gave me a print out how to bf lying down but the hospital
they said no feeding baby in the bed as its too small and baby could fall off.
i spoke to the ward sister but she dismissed all of my claims saying whats happening is normal and there is no problem
poor friend when i left she was in tears
anything else i can try?
should i try the ntc ?could they help?

there are sometimes bf counsellors who visit the wards

maybe if you do call the nct they will mention it if anyone is going round the wards

OMG that is awful treatment, playing on the internet not helping your friend.

Tell her yes, first time mums on the HDU CAN feed their babies with help from the flipping medical staff.

The midwife should encourage breastfeeding.

Topping up with formula can be a tricky one, with a healthy baby it should not be done in the main but if the baby has health needs that might be different.

Some hospitals buy in donor milk to feed to little babies but then your friend would have to pump 6/8 times a day to bring in and keep her milk. Hence it would make more sense for her to keep feeding herself.

Regarding feeding the baby yourself, I know enough about wet nursing to say anything useful but what a lovely thought

Calling Tiktok, Huckermunker and Mears for more information !!! (these are the breastfeeding experts, trust what they say above most of the stuff you read on the internet)

Complain to the hospital and PCT this midwife should not be ignoring your friends baby to play online

OMG - I'm genuinely shocked by this. How awful for your poor friend (but how lucky of her to have such a fab friend!)

They have bed guards at the hospital (or at least thaey have in the 2 hospitals I've given birth in).

How kind of you to offer to donate. Kind of predictable that they'd say no...there's probably all sorts of bureaucracy involved. However, that's not the best solution anyway in the long term. The baby should be suckling now to stimulate her milk supply.

Ooooh I'm just thinking about it.

I don't know enough

my friend really wants to and is trying really hard.she said th mw is more interested in the internet, than her and the ONE other lady in there.
is it normal for the mw to have the internet on the wards? let alone the hdu? i asked to speak to whoever was in charge and the ward sister came to speak to me. who is higher than her ?

what is the mw playing at surfing the web!

Goggle for your local PCT...ring them and ask to speak to the PALS department (Patient Advice and Liason Service) AND/OR the complaint department.

They should help you find who is the right person to talk to.

Hi,
Just to add another side to this, it is possible to start BF later if it IS impossible for her to BF at the beginning. I had a 3rd degree tear, a big PPH, blood transfusions and also ended up with septecemia from a kidney infection. I couldn't bf at the beginning, as I couldn't stand up, was on iV fluids and antibiotics as well as heavy painkillers and had a catheter and i didn't physically produce any milk. Also my DS was in SCBU and was being fed formula through an NG tube hourly as he had hypoglycemia. However, I started putting him to the breast after a few days once I was able to, and managed to continue for 6 months.

I don't know if this message is too late, but I had problems bf my ds when he was born - he has very bad jaundice and ended up back in hospital. The nurses on the children's ward bullied me to give him formula and threatened al sorts- they knew nothing about bf because kept asking why I wasn't producing enough milk (it was day 3 - it hadn;t come in yet, doh).

If your friend wants to bf but the baby needs more milk than she's able to produce, I recommend:

• formula ONLY through a cup or syringe. My nurses told me I could only feed with bottle (which would have caused nipple confusion) as feeding with syringe took too long (read: would take THEM too long), but I insisted and also said I would do it myself if they didn't have time, which I did. This helped me bond with baby as well and meant we went onto bf with no problems.
• ensure baby is fed every two hours in the early days, and insist on mw bringing baby to you for feeding if you're not mobile.
• every two hours, stimulate your breasts using electric pump. Don't be disheartened if you don't get much 'milk' at this stage. Drain whatever you get into a sterilised syringe/cup and feed to baby before you then top up with formula. This way, baby at least gets some of the goodness of the colostrum/your own milk. You will also ensure that beasts are stimulated enough to start producing enough milk for when you do eventually start breastfeeding back at home. The ward can should be able to provide pumps, syringe/cup and anything else you might need for this - even if they say no initially!!
• insisting on two hourly feeds that you do yourself annoys the c**p out of the nurses, which is an added benefit - but may also make that lazy mw more keen to get your friend bf as it'll be less work for her in the long-run!!
• insist you see a bf counsellor - most hospitals have one and they are fab and can also argue on your behalf.
• bf in bed. Bollocks about it not being safe - my SIL had the same argument, it's a common argument in HDU/ITC cos babies are usually so small/poorly, but if your friend's baby is OK physically there's nothing to worry about.
• stand your ground. Most nurses think they know it all but it is YOUR baby and you have every right to insist on the treatment you think is right for your child. They expect you to back down and don't like it when you don't, but they can't do anything about it if you insist on other courses of action. Don't allow yourself to be bullied!

You are SUCH a good friend and I'm so shocked at her bad treatment. When she's better she would be wise to file an official complaint - maybe if you take some notes, this will help her as she may not be fully aware of everything that's taking place right now due to her meds. Good luck to you both.

haven't read this all - so sorry if repeating - but could your freind express milk. My dd was in special care when born & after a huge fight was able to express.