Breastfeeding is a unique bond between a mother and a child.
Most women want to experience the joy of carrying your baby in your arms and letting your child feed skin to skin. A study conducted in 2011 to 2012 showed that around 89% of Canadian women personally initiated breastfeeding over formula milk feeding. Truly, this is something that is a special mark of motherhood, but sometimes not all women perfect lactation so easily.
There are struggles that you can encounter and one of them is lactation mastitis.
Lactation mastitis is an infection or inflammation in the mammary gland tissues of the breast. This commonly happens among breastfeeding mothers. Worldwide, it affects around 10% of lactating moms. This condition manifests in the first three months after child delivery but can still manifest a couple of years later.
What happens to you if you have mastitis?
Women suffering from mastitis usually notice a sore, tender spot in their breast. The inflammation happens when milk is trapped inside your breast ducts. If you do not empty your breast during feeding, one of the milk ducts might become clogged and cause infection. Mastitis can also be caused by bacteria entering through a tear or crack in the skin. The old milk stored in the breast ducts can attract bacteria, leading to inflammation.
How do you know if it is mastitis?
If you have an ongoing breast infection, you may feel the following symptoms:
· Breast pain
· Warmth in the affected area
· Breast redness
· Body aches
· Fevers and chills
· Inflammation and tenderness of the breast
· Breast engorgement
· Exhaustion
· Abscess or tender lumps
What do you need to do to relieve mastitis symptoms?
If you are experiencing breast inflammation right now because of lactation, you can do the following to relieve the pain:
1. Do not stop breastfeeding. Rest if you must, but do not quit. Most women would want to shift to formula feeding if they experience breast swelling or engorgement, but emptying your breasts or continuing lactation will help you heal up. Easier said than done, right? But even though it may feel painful at first letting your child feed on your swelling breast will help empty stagnant milk. If you are having difficulty doing this on your own, try finding a lactation consultant that will guide you.
2. Apply a warm compress to the affected area. If you are feeling pain in one of your breasts, it is comforting if you place a warm compress or cloth over your breasts to ease the blocked milk ducts. Warmth will stimulate both blood circulation and milk circulation in your breasts. Before nursing, get a face cloth and soak it in hot water, squeeze the water, and put the cloth on your breasts for a few minutes. Repeat it until the pain is soothed enough to for you to nurse your baby or to express through pumping.
3. Massage the breast. If you can feel tenderness in your breast and feelings of pain, massage it before you nurse your child and during lactation. You can encourage milk flow by using your fingertips first moving from the outside of your breasts towards your nipple area. You can eventually put pressure on the massage by using your knuckles. It may feel painful at first, but performing the massage consistently and doing it after a hot towel compress will help unclog your breast ducts.
4. Let your child latch properly. Most of the time, nipple tears and breast pains are caused by an incorrect nursing latch. If the baby is properly latching, you would not feel any pain at all. But if he or she is in an incorrect nursing position, you might experience nipple bites and painful lactation. If you are a first-time mom, seek the help of a family or loved one who can teach you the proper way of nursing a child. Or, you can also hire a lactation consultant who can get you through breastfeeding for the first time.
5. Always empty your breasts. Exhausting all the milk in your breast is important to avoid mastitis and emptying it will help remove the stagnant milk that can cause the infection. If your baby becomes full while there’s still milk inside your breasts, you can always hand express or use a breast pump to bring out all the milk. Make sure to store excess milk properly in storage bags and bottles and put them in cooling bags or the freezer for future use.
If you are battling mastitis, you can also help your body fight infection by boosting your immunity. Take your necessary vitamins and drink or eat food rich in probiotics. Have enough rest if you can. Seek the help of other family members in feeding your baby if you need to take a nap to replenish your energy.
Consult a doctor if symptoms of mastitis continue despite the efforts to ease it. If you are also experiencing intense pain and cannot personally come to a walk in clinic Guelph, you can still consult a doctor from your home by accessing online clinics.
You can overcome mastitis! Seek help if necessary.
