Breastfeeding after a cesearean

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I am due my second in april and am determind to give breastfeeding another go.

Managed 6 days with my first but had to stop following an infection, which meant medication which wasnt safe for the baby. I was soo gutted.

This time im having a csection following shoulder dystocia and pph. Had two blood transfusions after dd1.

Hit me with all your experiences... ive heard people say that you can hardly sit up and cannot hold your baby for hours so was wondering how id manage to breastfeed?? Also in terms of pain management (never had surgery before) will paracetamol be sufficient and can i take anything stronger and still breastfeed??

I had 2 csections and successfully breastfed both times.

You get plenty of pain relief. You can hold and feed your baby lying down, and I think you can sit up (with help obviously) after a while. I can’t really remember.

Anyway, don’t worry. It is entirely possible to do it. You might just need someone to lift the baby in and out of the crib for the first day or so. But I managed it a few times on my own.

I breast fed long term after a section twice.

Sitting up can be tricky. In hospital I just propped myself up and dozed sitting up- managed to reach into the crib and pick them up OK. Although I think not putting them down helped with the bonding and feeding!

Don't expect to be buzzing m/w to pick the baby up for you. IME they are far, far too busy and they'll get cross and end up telling you to give formula as the baby will probably be feeding every hour or so. Hence me not putting baby down much!

Best is to get home ASAP. DH can pull you up to sitting and pass you the baby- or you can co-sleep if you want.

Pain was never too bad for me. More discomfort and stomach muscles just not working properly!

I'm doing it currently. It can be sore but I had lots of help with positioning and now I'm getting more mobile it's feeling much easier. Best of luck!

Thanks ladies!! Do any of you have any experience of lasinoh for sore nips??

Also did you get a breast pump further into your bf journey? I hired one last time and didnt rate it much, but maybe i didnt give it much of a chance.

Never used lanisoh so can't help there.

As for a pump, to be honest I think they are an utter PITA and a waste of time. Plus they can be detrimental to breastfeeding.

I hate pumps because a) they can make you think you have no milk if you are one of those people who only produce for a baby. b) actually feeding is far more effective at stimulating and regulating supply c) by they time you've sterilised, pumped, fed baby the bottle, you could just have fed directly and had done.

i know some say about other people helping with feeding, and feeling involved etc, especially grandparents who seem obsessed with wanting to give bottles- but it was such a faff for me it wasn't worth it. Even night feeds are key to supply and sleep so best not replaced with a bottle.

Even further down the line it was easier to feed than faff with a pump. Yes it meant I only went out without the baby for very short periods but it was only 5 months or so before weaning and dh could give a rice cake or porridge or something to keep them occupied until I got back.

Lansinoh is amazing stuff. It’s my always part of my gift to friends who choose to breastfeed.
I’ve had 3 c sections and not had any problems breastfeeding. I don’t remember it being particularly painful just a little uncomfortable. I even tandem breastfed my 13 month old and my newborn a few hours after my c section with no problems.
I wouldn’t bother with pumps or bottles unless you think you’ll need to leave the baby for long periods of time.
Good Luck :)

I am currently feeding after c section, 5 months post. Make sure you sit somewhere comfortable would be my advice. I never used nipple creams, just used breast milk. A midwife told me it was best to let them ‘harden up’

Thank you all. I definitely feel more confident in giving it my best shot reading your comments x

I successfully breast fed until almost 2 after disastrous induction, emergency c section, blood transfusion and medical staff setting my expectations low given what I went through. Milk came in just fine. Hospital was a bit hard but I managed it and once home DH got up in the night and passed DD to me and put her back. Did this way longer than necessary as this was his contribution as we had a bottle refuser! Best of luck.

I successfully breastfed after an emergency section for 16months. I was really worried as had midwives constantly telling me that my milk would take longer to come in, and I might struggle to feed a baby that size (9lber) but honestly I had one of the easiest breastfeeding journeys going. Yes it was a bit painful picking him up to start with but I had a very good recovery, DH helped at home passing him to me for the first week or so and did all nappy changes. I was encouraged in hospital to co-sleep with the sides up of the bed, which was great as I didn't need to constantly ask for their help.

Also, there are drugs you can take for infection etc that are safe for baby, might be worth researching this in advance (Kelly mom?) so you know. I know far too many people whose bf journey stopped earlier than they wanted because of medication or being separated from the baby when in most cases with more support /information they could have continued. If you are really wanting to breastfeed, arm yourself with as much info as possible and know where to look for/fight for the support when you need it.

I think being in hospital longer helped me get the hang of feeding after my c section. I mixed fed both and then as mill feeds dropped did mostly breastfeeding. Make sure you eat and drink lots and look after you however the feeding goes x

Get to know the controls of the hospital bed - lifting the head end propped me into a good feeding position, and once I was mobile lowering it helped to get off more easily. You'll probably be moving before you expect to - basically once the spinal wears off you can start to move (with caution and adequate pain relief.)

I've a slightly different experience. Birth was traumatic for both of us and dd was in scbu and tube fed initially. So I wasn't feeding while dealing with the initially recovery from the c-section. But I found the recovery not too bad anyway and was up walking fine within 24 hours.

Milk took a while to come in - about 10 days - but then came in massively!

I had help/support to teach us both to bf as it was a big change for dd but actually it wasn't a huge issue.

Used a pillow on my tummy at first but actually I think that was more nerves than really needing to.

I didn't find bf made me sore with post op stuff, but boobs were sore and nipples initially just until my body got used to the process, took about 6 weeks for them to "toughen up" and thereafter the sensation was quite pleasant.

I found bf so convenient, I had to stop around 10 months as endo messed me up and my milk dried - I didn't learn until years later that I could have been given meds to maintain supply which annoyed me.

Weirdly I had just assumed I'd bf and it plain didn't occur to me to get bottles etc and so we were caught out! No 24 hour supermarkets then!

Switching to bottle feeding was a pita, to be honest. I hated it. Far less convenient than bf and it took several trials (at some expense! No trial size formula available to us) to find a formula that Dd could tolerate - the first few triggered projectile vomiting and I believe sore stomach for her. Awful. Also took a while to find the right bottles and teats for her.

I'm sure you'll be fine with a scheduled section and being able to prepare yourself somewhat

Pain relief will be fine as long as they remember to give you it on time - be wary of that as it happened to me and delayed me getting home where I agree with a PP I'd have been better off with feeding.

I managed to feed DS for a week after my section, my milk took almost that week to come in and he lost a lot of weight. I found the support I recurved poor, everyone told me we were doing fine when we clearly weren't. I possibly could have persevered after we were discharged for the second time but I was too scared. I think a more experienced mum would have done much better. Best of luck for it all.
I was up after 6 hours and the pain had been fine. 3 weeks PP now.

Bf my first for five months (when I returned to work) and second for a year. The second was in NICU for four days I was worried she wouldn't take the breast but once she latched on she was hooked!
Never pumped.

I've done it twice too. Yes it hurts, but day 1 is the worst. By day 3 or 4 I was doing pretty well.