Need advice to hopefully put my mind at rest!

[Tiggly]

Hi,
I am 39 weeks and I am currently booked in for a caesarean this week (not through choice but due to medical history, diabetes, spd and breech baby to name a few issues!) but I am really worried that I haven't started producing any colostrum or anything yet. This might sound daft but a number of the ladies in the antenatal class I attended had already started leaking / producing milk when they were around 36-37 weeks. Should I worry? I would really really like to be able to breast feed. Hopefully once the baby arrives then the milk will "come in" but I have no signs of anything!
Tia
Tiggly

Tiggly dont worry too much. I didnt have any leaks with my first but did with my second and still had the same amount of milk. I didnt start leaking until almost 40 weeks but just because you dont leak doesnt mean you have no milk.

All the best for your section and breastfeeding. I have had two sections and am currently 6 weeks pregnant with my third, although am hoping to achieve a VBA2C.

It doesn't mean your milk won't come in. With DS1 I never leaked at all and ended up totally engorged with milk.

Thank you very much for your responses, it does help to hear from people who have been through the same. Did it take long for your milk to come in after the caesarean jenjins? I am worried about the section as the midwife in antenatal class said that babies born this way can be slower to establish breast feeding?

No Tiggly. Milk was fine and she was feeding within an hour or so from the beginning of section and was fortunate enough that she latched on straight away. When i left on day 3 i could hear the milk squirting around in her mouth there was so much of it!! Poor thing kept coughing.

Ive never heard that section babies are slower sometimes to feed....

The midwife was I think trying to reassure those of us in the room that were having to have c-sections that we would have the same scenario as those who delivered naturally but it actually worried me more than reassured me to be honest! I am not entirely sure why babies born this way are supposed to be slower to establish breast feeding? Fingers crossed that my milk will arrive on demand! thanks jenjins x

I think there's something to do with the compression of going down the birth canal stimulating some sort of hormonal response in babies but I've never heard of anyone actually having a problem IYSWIM? I know of plenty of mums who've had sections and gone on to feed v successfully.

As for leaky boobs pre-birth, I've never had it til this time (#4) but I've fed for 10 weeks, 6 months & 5 weeks respectively previously. The problems I had with BF were nothing to do with lack of pre-birth milk.

I wonder how the stats would play out if you also applied a gestation date to these 'problem' feeders after a section? Ie is the problem the section? Or is the problem that they may be early sections due to problems? An early baby (however it is born) can often have problems with feeding, both from breast and bottle.

I wouldn't worry in the slightest over the lack of stuff now. And I wouldn't stress over the section causing issues. After all, you're going to have to sit with your feet up so will have nothing to do other than feed. I, on the other hand, was rushing around like a mad fool and caused a lot of the problems I had (esp with dc3) with feeding.

Enjoy whatever happens!

I had a section at 37 weeks, no colosseum beforehand, and bfed until 16 months :-)

Currently 39 weeks and no leakages at all either.

I've had 2 c-sections and will have a third with DD3 due in July. I didn't leak at all before the babies were born and my milk came in absolutely fine (I still clearly remember going for a shower a few days after DD1 was born and staring at the mirror in surprise at my Pamela Anderson tits .) I didn't have any problems with supply - just the opposite, in fact.

With DD1 it was hard to establish feeding but I think that was down to my lack of experience. DD2 was much easier. My tip would be to get the nurse or midwife to tuck the baby up with you as soon as possible and just let him/her have skin to skin contact. (I had to be quite forceful about insisting on this as the dippy nurse didn't want to bother until I was back on the ward but I was very aware of the golden hour after birth being an important time to get them to start nuzzling and have a little feed.) Once I'd been stitched up and moved into the recovery room DD2 was tucked up with me. Within the hour she started nuzzling around and had a good feed. I kept her tucked up with me for quite a while beck on the ward so she was able to have a second feed when she woke up and this seemed to get things off to a good start.

There's lots of help available in hospital with breastfeeding. Sadly, lots of it is bad (brusque women coming in and manhandling you and baby without asking) but there is some good help too. Your hospital may have a dedicated breastfeeding counsellor or co-ordinator and it's worth asking to see them. With DD1 I struggled for a good fortnight before going to see someone who helped me with positioning, which made all the difference.

Good luck.

I had a c-section at 35 weeks (preeclampsia hence the timing, method of exit due to breech) and my milk came in on the second day.

I'm still breastfeeding her 2-1/2 years later while 6 months pregnant. This despite bad advice and manhandling from old-fashioned Singaporean nurses.

I never got engorged, could never express more than a few drops. In the early days, when feeding was a very anxious time for me, tales of leaking breasts and engorgement and pads used to send me into a tailspin of crying and feeling like a failure.

Please google biological nurturing (allowing the baby to self latch). I think it's a great way to establish breastfeeding during those early days when there is no 'rush' as such. Well, there is a need for feeding but you've got all time in the world to just lie there, skin on skin, babymooning.

Worth a try, particularly if you feel you've been manhandled (which can also make the baby shut off) or they've tried the dive bomb technique.

Best of luck!

Oh, and I didn't feed for a few hours. Yes, it's good practice to attempt it soon as you can but it doesn't spell disaster by any means, so don't let that add to your worries.

My 35 weeker managed to suckle very well despite really bad jaundice.

"I think there's something to do with the compression of going down the birth canal stimulating some sort of hormonal response in babies"

I believe (I am recalling what my ob/gyn told me) that they give you a hormone injection, of oxytocin (along with the oxycontin!)

Am I remembering wrongly?

So maybe (as often happens) its old news which is no longer applicable but is accepted anyway?

Seems to be fairly common IME. You're told this and that only to find out when you question why that it no longer applies but everyone still believes it to be true!

I'm quite interested in this actually. I'm almost expecting to have a section with this one but for reasons of my own would like to feed up to 8-9 months (which would be a first). So had been wondering about that anyway!

Sorry folks, went to do dinner etc. Thank you for that thought otchayaniye regarding not feeding straight away - it had been on my mind. What if the baby doesn't take to feeding straight away? How long do the nurses let you try before they intervene with the bottle?
Glad that this thread has been helpful to you as well buttonmoon78! There is so much running through my mind about the delivery, feeding, coming home, looking after this little bundle that is will rely on us to give it 100% of what it needs I was wondering about the pain relief they give you after the section too? I had paracetamol after 10 hours of waiting when I had my gall bladder out and going back into the same hospital (all beit a totally different ward with different nurses), and was in agony as it wasn't enough (had been on co-codamol 30/500 and tramadol until the day i was admitted).

I wonder if the Oxytocin injection is what stimulates your milk to come in after a section otchayaniye? Interesting point! It is a hormone after all??

I don't think they can intervene and 'force' you to use bottles unless the baby is clearly suffering. Though being strong enough when you're exhausted and emotional is hard - my dh was always great at that.

I know this is a very personal thing, but with #2 (ironically the one I fed myself for longest!) I gave her a formula top up a couple of times in the first week when things were taking a while to establish. Some people would flame me for saying that though.

If you have diabetes you may have to fight midwives off so that they don't give baby formula. My friend was very disorientated after birth and not really prepared and midwives were very quick to get her to sign a form so that baby could be given formula.

I am not sure if it would be too late for you, but I am planning on colostrum harvesting from about week 36 so that if I need a section (currently breech baby, although could turn) or cannot breastfeed immediately after birth as I'd like to, DH can feed baby the colostrum from a cup or syringe so she doesn't need formula.

It's quite important for babies with mothers with diabetes to be fed quite soon after birth to avoid hypoglycemia. Donor breast milk is an option in some hospitals.

FWIW, I never noticed any milk prior to birth in any of my pregnancies, but always had plenty. I have tried hand expressing in the shower this time (just to see if I had any due to the colostrum harvesting) and I do have colostrum there, but had I not checked, I'd never have known. I'm certainly not leaking.

Thanks for letting me know that buttonmoon78, I really appreciate it. I guess your kind of expected to hit the ground running once the baby is delivered, but your so exhausted after the delivery and in a bit of discomfort so the last thing you feel like doing is starting the learning process when all you want to do is curl up!

oh my goodness midori1999. I wasn't aware of that kind of thing happening, many thanks for the alert - will let dh know too so that he doesn't sign anything either. That is scary. I appreciate that the baby may be susceptible to hypoglycaemia after the delivery which is why I'm worried about the section and them being slow to feed after the delivery - according to the midwife at ante natal classes which isn't necessarily the case according to the people who have responded to this thread.

I have tried to hand express but not a lot happens other than a bit of pain at the moment! I wished I had known about colostrum harvesting before as I would have tried to give it a go a bit sooner. How would / do you store the colostrum? How long for?

Will look into donor milk in my area so I can go into hospital fully aware of what is out there.