Will having an ELCS mean I won't be able to breastfeed?

[kissyfur]

I'm currently 27 weeks PG and have been advised by my consultant that they feel it would be best for me to have my baby by ELCS. Reason for this is I had an EMCS last time and have a heart condition and hypothyroidism. But I am concerned after reading a few of the breastfeeding threads on here that this will mean my chances of successfully breastfeeding will be pretty low? I did bf my DD for 14 months but I had been induced and had 2 days of contractions before I was given an EMCS. I did struggle to get established in the early days though but I think that's pretty standard?! Will the fact that I won't have any contractions this time around mean I can't BF?

Would I be crazy to attempt a VBAC just so I can BF?

Any advice gratefully received, thanks

*brill not Bill! Why has the iPad changed the spellings of everything?!

I had an emcs but didn't go into labour so no contractions.

Ds was taken to scbu. They didn't know what was wrong with him and he was only given glucose for 2 days. I didn't see him for over 24 hours, didn't pick him up for 3 days, didn't attempt to bf until day 6. BF exclusively for 6 months and continued until he was 20 months. I did express every 2-3 hours in the early days to establish supply (and for his tube but I produced more than they gave him).

I've also had 2 vaginal births with loads of skin to skin and not managed to bf very successfully.

Have been told by my consultant that when the placenta detaches it sets off a reaction in your body which gets it ready for breastfeeding, whether the birth is natural, induced or c-section. I asked cos I'm having a c-section in a fortnight. Good luck with yours.

I had a ELCS last time after an emcs the first time. The problems I had with bf were caused by tongue tie, not by the sections (bf DS1 till he gave up at 19m, still bf ds2 at 10m).

Don't worry, you'll be fine

I had elcs three months ago and have fed DS no bother, I had wondered as I laboured with my first cs but mw said its removal of placenta that triggers milk?

After pains are miles worse with dc2 though so keep on top of your pain relief! Good luck with baby :)

Oh and I didn't have skin to skin with either of mine but they both fed fine at first attempt. Breastfeeding mostly down to how cooperative baby is I reckon

Should read "ease of Breastfeeding" sorry I'm feeding & on phone!

I had 30 hours of contractions then an EMCS. I did have problems feeding but I think they had more to do with fatigue, being doped up and tongue tie than the op itself. Hopefully you will get lots of rest and maybe need less drugs with an ELCS! Good luck.

BF after EMCS & ELCS for over 2 years no problems.

After ELCS with DS2, kept him in hospital bed with me (who can sleep in a hospital) and popped him on whenever he woke up! rang for midwives if he needed a change....! It must have been easier than bottles!

I had a emergency c section at 26 weeks pregnant and breast fed my ds for 3 years, so it is possible.

Just to add to everyone else - 2 elcs and bf both fine. I would say don't expect it to work immediately - you don't produce buckets of milk at the start and they need to munch for what seems like forever to help the milk (as opposed to the colustrum) come in. (That's what I was told anyway). Good luck.

Just to add here, don't be alarmed if your dc doesn't take to breastfeeding at first. I couldn't get dd to latch on for about 18 hours after the birth. In hindsight I didn't do enough skin to skin but I was knackered and pretty out of it.

But the lovely midwifes showed me how to hand express my colostrum and syringe feed it to dd. They don't need much at all when newborn, their stomach is the size of a marble.

Sorry, that should say the don't need much at each feed, but they do need to feed frequently to stimulate supply.

One big difference I found was that DS (elcs) was much hungrier, don't know if that's because I'd had opiates during long labour with dd but he was much more purposeful from the off! I needed to eat/drink LOADS to keep up and my nipples got sore.

It's the removal of the placenta that stimulates the production of the hormones necessary for breastfeeding, not labour itself.

So there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to breastfeed.