Breastfeeding after PPH?

[EdieBee]

Hello, I have recently given birth to a little boy but unfortunately had a very traumatic birth. Baby was born with no problems but I had a major postpartum hemorrhage afterwards and was rushed to theatre. I lost 2.5lts of blood and had to have 4 transfusions. I have been trying to breast feed since birth but because of all the blood loss I have a low milk supply and currently have to top up with formula after each breastfeed. Just wondering if anyone went through similar and if so was breastfeeding successful? How long did recovery take or how long until your milk supply increased? I would appreciate any thoughts! Thank you x

Me! Had a 3l PPH. I'm sorry not to be more upbeat but I never established breastfeeding, despite 6 months of trying. I mix fed, expressed and tried every quack remedy out there, but no joy.
I wish you luck but I also hope you accept that your body may simply not be able to make enough milk, and see that as biological not a reflection on you (I struggled hugely).
Congrats on your baby! Remember: fed is best. My daughter is now 5 and approx the size of a giant, it's not held her back in the least! She walked and talked v early (8 months and 15 months), and never stops doing either now

First of all congratulations. I had a pph but not to the same degree I lost a litre of blood . I did have issues with supply after I left the hospital.

My advice would be to eat after every single feed and drink plenty of water . I ate lots of oats - the graze protein bars were good to have next to your bed and also would eat porridge as well. Plenty of fruit as well , bananas were good. A tip I have read but not tried was to have fruit smoothies to drink as well .

Also try for as much rest as you can . A mistake I made was not sleeping enough when my partner was in the hospital during the day.

Finally as much skin to skin as possible and also breathing in their scent . It's full of hormones which will help .

Thank you for your replies, I'm really worried that my body won't be able to get a good supply due to the blood loss so it's good to hear other people's experiences. I will be devastated if it doesn't work out but in the meantime I will just keep eating healthy and trying to get myself better. Thanks again. x

Firstly be kind to YOURSELF you've just had a baby and went through labour in it self! 3 litres is a huge amount and sounds very traumatic.

I had a PPH 1.2 litres and had sepsis. I had a few other issues too. I breastfed for 4 days in hospital and they were completely exhausting days. I was off my face on medication as my BP was sky high due to me developing pre eclampsia at 38 weeks and to combat sepsis. I didn't even BF until she was 2 days old as I was so poorly (aside from when she was first born not for long tho!). Unfortunately, I couldn't continue with BF for my own health (doctors told me it would be 6 months to recover!) I was so upset, I cried for weeks and was just upset giving her Formula or watching her drink it. I felt like a failure and was wracked with guilt. Looking back It was crazy how I was thinking. Formula is highly scientific product, yes it's not as amazing as breast milk. But it's still giving the nutrients your baby needs to thrive!

I read so much about BF before giving birth and was really excited to have that bond. But now I'm happy that I'm fully back to health (my LG is almost 6 months) and she's absolutely thriving. We have an amazing bond.

Breast is not best, fed is best.

Sorry your posting makes me think so much about my experience and I just get the feeling you are very upset. Please don't be.

I^^ was told by midwives and my HV you can try again at breast feeding at any point. Your supply may increase but don't feel guilty for giving formula too. You could even try expressing to help build your supply up.

Either way - you are doing a great job.

Hi @EdieBee

Congratulations on the birth of your little boy.

Like other posters have said-be kind to yourself and worry primarily at getting yourself fit and healthy again.

I also had a pph of 2.5 litres. Didnt end up i n theatre, but had so much fluid pumped into me and an iron infusion, and narrowly avoided blood transfusions.

My dd is nearly 4 weeks now.

I cant lie I am struggling with breastfeeding, but that is more to do with pain and soreness (looks like now baby is being diagnosed with a posterior tongue tie which is still going to take a couple of weeks to get sorted due to waiting list). But was also worried about low supply.

But supply seems to be picking up and at last weigh in she has put back on the weight she lost after birth.

Are you being monitored for anemia now? Do you have iron tablets? Are you eating and drinking enough? I am also drinking a tea that is supposed to help boost milk production (have no idea if it actually works, but is herbal so cant hurt right? and has been ok'd by midwife)

Also sorry if this is a really obvious thing to say but are u breastfeeding as much as possible to try and boost production?

Please dont beat yourself up about this. You are doing an amazing job and like other PPs have said fed is best.

I was at a breastfeeding support group the other day, and a lady there had to stop breastfeeding for a few weeks due to struggling with supply and a health issue. She then decuded to go back to breastfeeding and give it another go, and through feeding and pumping she managed to re-lactate and is now ebf again. She said it took a while to build up her supply again, and it was hard work but she managed it.

I wish u all the best on your journey. Dont feel guilty for any decision you make-you are doing the best for you and your baby.x

@Anyat212 I'm so sorry you had such a difficult birth, thank you for your kind words. I actually ended up formula feeding my first baby as the breast feeding didn't work then either and she was absolutely fine on formula! But it's amazing the pressure we put on ourselves and it seems so devastating if we can't manage to feed our babies ourselves!

@Waffle12 thanks for your reply. I am taking iron tablets and eating as healthy as I can and my husband is making me lactation biscuits! I'm concerned as my midwives want me to reduce breast feeding to 20 mins, then formula top up and a 20 min expressing every 3 hours but I feel like I should be feeding more than that to increase the supply? He sometimes wants extra feeds but he's mostly too full with all the formula! His weight had dropped which is why the midwives want me to get food into him but I feel like I'm reducing the amount I feed him.

Midwives aren't always very clued up about bf. In fact not many are at all. I have years of bf experience but have not experienced a pph. The absolute best thing you can do in my opinion is have baby to the breast as much as you can bear, even if he's just suckling and not drinking. Drink as much water as you can and as many oaty things as possible, good excuse for some flapjack! And night feeds are so important while establishing a good supply, so even if baby sleeps quite long periods throughout the night, I would wake him and put him to the breast. Safe co sleeping is ideal in this situation. I wish you the best of luck and congratulations!

Hi @EdieBee, I also had a PPH of 2l and transfusions. Also had a very low supply because of it, and was pumping and topping up with formula. The supply did increase, but slowly, and I was pumping round the clock which I found really hard to keep up once my DP went back to work, so I ended up sticking with formula.
It was my fist child though, and I really didn't know what I was doing, along with having a difficult physical/mental recovery from the birth. In hindsight I wish I had asked for more help from the lovely midwife I had, so I'd say ask for as much help/advice as you can. The best piece of advice I remember getting from the midwife was to try and put baby on the breast as much as possible, but in a relaxed way as an extra from the formula feeding if you see what I mean, so your not stressing out about whether they're getting enough, it's just lovely relaxed bonding time that will hopefully encourage more supply and better feeding.
Most importantly, please be kind to yourself. I felt terrible about not breastfeeding for a long time, but we really shouldn't. Also, having a PPH can be a very traumatic experience, it affected me deeply and I've only recently begun to address some of the issues it left me with. Don't want to sound dramatic, but please do talk to someone about it if it's left you feeling rough. Congrats and take care of yourself!

I could've written this. Please don't stress as stress can affect supply too (way easier said than done! And tbh I wanted to punch everyone who said that to me but bear with me...) This exactly happened to me. It was bloody awful! And unnecessary.. but that's another story.
Anyway... You've done an amazing thing! Going through such a terrible time but giving birth to a beautiful baby :) and trying to establish breastfeeding! Well done you!
I found it very overwhelming and scary but I think what got me through was lots of skin to skin with baby, lots of snuggles and relaxing time with baby, and putting baby to the breast as much as possible, even if it was for a minute. Seriously, every opportunity, do it! You'll be surprised how that can help. I managed to breastfeed successfully after my massive pph... All the way through til nearly 2 years old.

Here if you want to ask more questions :)

Thank you all so much for your replies, it's so good to hear from others and that I'm not alone. ❤️ @Trixieandkatya I agree that this can have such an impact mentally and I'm still trying to come to terms with it, which doesn't help with trying to establish breastfeeding, I still get flashbacks at times as it was all so scary. I hope you're doing ok.
@Daisyzxcv It's so nice to hear a positive experience, thank you. Did it take you long to recover from? And did you have a strict feeding schedule or did you just feed on demand? I have a schedule of 3 hourly breastfeeding, formula top up and expressing that the midwives recommended and I'm finding it really hard to stick to, just wondering if there is another way to do it! xx

@EdieBee I was told to top up with expressed milk or formula when I needed to and I did do a little bit of both at the very beginning (first few days). It very much depends on your baby. Looking back I think I recovered quite well and quickly, however at the time it always feels like forever! It's hard to say because having a newborn and establishing those first 6 weeks is hard anyway but I do think I recovered quite quickly.
If I'm really honest, and this is only my opinion - I'd scrap the schedule completely. I really think breastfeeding on demand is what helped my supply so quickly. Our bodies are amazing - baby feeds often to actually tell your body to make more milk. So I fed on demand. Expressing helps when you feel baby didn't empty your breasts, or even if they go longer between feeds at any time.
You're doing amazing!

I lost over 3 litres and ended up in intensive care - we were lucky with breastfeeding though as I had been warned it could affect supply.

I fed my baby often (i didnt think bf babies were supposed to go as long as 3 hours when newborn if bf on demand!) And def would have fed if it had been 3 hours and they'd not murmured. Id have fed really often and breast first. If youre def wanting to beeastfeed Id consider a lactaction consultant (out hospital had one free but i suspect theyre cut now) as the mw advice for 3h feeds and formula sounds odd. I thought they had ti feed little and often and esp evening/overnight to increase suppky in the early days.

We did lota of skin to skin. I was quite unwell so essentially spent a lot of time in bed with my baby with free access to the boob. If thats possible if you have a partner to help you def need ti rest while you rebuild iron.

All that said, a big pph is terrifying, if uou dont want to bf or if its too hard then please please dont feel guilty about formula. I sort of became obsessed with wanting to bf and as I had so many issues after the birth it did help us bond as Id eeally struggled to bond after the birth as wed been separated.

Thank you @Daisyzxcv I agree I think this schedule is crazy and I think it will make me crack and give up if I continue it! I'd much rather just feed and feed myself which he seems to naturally want to do. He is slow to gain weight but again I think the midwives are putting too much pressure on this and weighing too often, he's not even 2 weeks yet! Thank you so much for your advice, it's so nice to hear from you xx

@NumberblockNo1 thanks for your reply. I'd love to get a lactation consultant but they are so expensive! We might reconsider it tho. I had lots of issues feeding my first baby so that's why this time I'm so determined to make it work and don't want to give up yet! Definitely enjoying lots of bonding time now as I was also separated from baby at birth, I especially love those middle of the night quiet times! Really appreciate your advice, thanks xx

I just wanted to add - both of my babies (one pph and one normal birth) both had a drop in centiles with weight and the health visitors really put the pressure on me and got me stressed about it. But it was absolutely nothing to do with my supply as they always insinuate. They were telling me to give formula etc and making me feel not good enough to breastfeed. But tbh I knew my babies and I knew that they were ok. They were still gaining weight, just not following the line exactly - which no baby really does anyway? But they put so much stress on me and I thought that was unfair. There is absolutely nothing wrong with formula but I knew I wanted to breastfeed (my one baby was in NICU after being very poorly and formula was not working for her) so I just persisted with breastfeeding and low and behold they just ended up following that lower centile line instead and the health visitor backed off. They're absolutely fine and I think mother's instinct rules above everything.
Trust yourself and your body. You'll know what to do :) with lots of time with baby to the breast, your supply will increase, and it'll help you relax more. Win win! Don't let those stupid centiles charts stress you out. As long as he is gaining, doing lots of wet and dirty nappies - he's ok :) all he needs is you xx

So sorry to hear you’ve been having such a tough time - having a newborn can be brutal and then feeding when you’re exhausted and recovering is so hard. Well done for pursuing breastfeeding - I don’t mean that in a patronising way, more I know how hard it is and I’m in awe!

I had a straightforward birth with 1.5l blood loss and anaemia, but then developed sepsis five days later and was in hospital for Iv antibiotics etc. My son was feeding non stop so I got no sleep even though I was so unwell - it was torture but he was so hungry. Everyone told me it was normal cluster feeding so I carried on when we got home until I was delirious with tiredness and being up all night. My nipples were sore and it was excruciating to feed - we did expressing and some formula too. In the end out of desperation we got a doula to help us and because she spent so long with us she realised something was wrong: DS had a tongue tie and we both had thrush (me in breast, DS in his mouth) which was making feeding painful for both of us. We got the tongue tie snipped and feeding improved about a week later. The thrush took five weeks to treat.

He’s now six months and EBF. I look back and while I’m glad that I was so determined and managed to breastfeed honestly I think I put far too much pressure on myself at a time when I was very unwell.

Practical things I did:

• went to a breastfeeding support group every week day (I’m in London so this was possible - some were half an hour away but it got me out of the house and gave me encouragement/help with latch etc)
• had my DH do absolutely everything else -

Bringing food/drinks/nappies/tidying up etc

• lots of skin to skin and cuddles
• No visitors so I could rest and feed and recover
• ate and drank lots - cake, flapjack, whatever you fancy to get calories up for feeding.

Good luck

Thanks @Daisyzxcv I totally agree, I've been speaking to friends in different countries who don't get their babies first weighed until they are 3 or 4 weeks old which gives them lots more time to get their weight back! Much better than constant monitoring! x

I had a pph (only 1 litre though) but my main issue with supply was that my baby required ventilation and was in nicu so I was unable to breastfeed him. It was 12 hours after his birth that I started hand expressing, before progression to pumping. He was fed formula in a ng tube until he was well enough to come to my breast. I was on a strict regime of bf, pump then feed him top up (formula first then breastmilk when my supply kicked in). It was exhausting both physically and mentally but a few days of doing this and my supply kicked in and I was able to ebf. We also had plenty of skin on skin time and I was feeding much more frequently than every 3 hours once we dropped the top ups. In the beginning it would be unusual for us to be feeding for 5-7 hours a day, especially when cluster feeding and I think this is as relates to my supply being low. Now he's 3 months old and I've got a good supply, we feed around 2 hours a day and are in a good routine. The early days I genuinely didn't know if I'd be able to stick it out but I'm so glad I persevered.
I can see why women stop bf if they've had supply issues as it's so hard, but I was really lucky to have great bf support. If there's lactation consultants or peer support groups near you definitely get in touch as they are amazing support!

*in the beginning it would be usual

How old is baby? I had a massively tramatic birth, 1.6lt pph and 2 unit transfusion. Recovery took a year but not because of the pph.

Ds1 did struggle with weight gain a little and didn't sleep more than about 30mins-1hour at a time for his first 3 weeks. It was bloody hard but I didn't know any better so just ploughed on - I breastfed him for 2 years!

Ds2 what a different experience! Easiest baby! Although even he struggled with latching initially

I also had a PPH following EMCS (but not as much as you) and struggled with latch, pain whilst bf and a low supply.

I was told by paediatrician at hospital to top up with formula and I did - Also think fed is best.

That said I wanted to try and Bf and noticed quickly that the formula top ups were diminishing my supply.

I was told to breastfeed on demand by the breastfeeding clinic and it was really difficult at the time but that’s what I did. One day about one week in I remember having baby on me non stop for eight hours. I don’t think that’s quite right and I’m not even sure if baby was drinking milk or suckling for comfort but I quickly noticed my supply increasing after that and I never had to feed for that long again.

But this was with my first where I had all the time in the world to establish breastfeeding. I assume you don’t.

I found the advice from the lactation consultant at the breastfeeding clinic helpful - and also the national breastfeeding helpline.

congratulations on having a gorgeous new bundle of joy in your life and hope you take care of yourself!

Hi there I know this post is from a year ago but I wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your journey. I had a traumatic birth with my son 3 months ago and a week after the birth hemmoraged and died on the table after CPR ,9 blood transfusions,surgery I survived but was unable to breastfeed to the extent I did the first week it has been so traumatic for me the whole thing, I have not given up breastfeeding sometimes its only 20mls a session after pumping but im determined to keep going. I am truly grateful to read ur story and to find others that have gone thru similar as sad as it is we have all been here. You have given me hope on this journey I have found myself on I hope you are doing better and think you are all so brave for continuing. Arohanui