WILL HAVING A GENTLE BIRTH PREVENT ALL BREASTFEEDING PROBLEMS?

I had briefly spoken by phone with Kimberly while she was pregnant and developing her birth plan. Kimberly and her husband, Doug, had hired a doula to support them in labor and were excited about becoming parents for the first time. Several weeks later, the couple called to report that Gabrielle was born following a rapid labor and natural birth. Now that she was home from the hospital, Kimberly was having a difficult time breastfeeding Gabrielle.

The next day I went to visit the family and found that Kimberly had significant bruising and bleeding on both nipples. During the consultation, I assisted Kimberly with positioning Gabrielle for feeding, and I prescribed ointments for Kimberly’s nipples. Over the next few days, Kimberly healed and Gabrielle became a better breast-feeder. Because Kimberly had a gentle birth, she had the energy to focus on quickly solving her breastfeeding difficulty. Likewise, Gabrielle remained alert and was able to learn to breastfeed without causing her mother further nipple trauma. Gentle birth may not prevent all breastfeeding problems, but if problems arise, you will be fortified by your positive birth experience to work toward a solution.

Although not impossible, it is more challenging to cope with a breastfeeding problem while simultaneously recovering from a difficult birth. When Becky went past her due date without going into labor, she was admitted to the hospital to be induced. Two days after starting the induction process, her labor rapidly progressed, but once fully dilated, Becky encountered difficulty and ended up having an emergency cesarean section. Becky finally arrived home with baby Emily after spending nearly a week in the hospital.

During our consultation, I could tell Becky had been through an ordeal. She was pale and exhausted. Becky’s feet and ankles were so swollen that her slippers did not fit, and she had painful purple bruises on both arms where her IV had been. Becky was discouraged because she was not making much milk, and baby Emily was still losing weight. I explained to Becky that her milk production was suppressed due to her long arduous labor and cesarean birth. Determined to work through this difficulty, Becky began regularly using an electric breast pump to stimulate her milk supply. While Becky worked on increasing her milk supply, we devised a plan to supplement Emily with her mother’s pumped breast milk.

Unfortunately, several days later, Becky developed an infection along her incision site that required antibiotics and daily dressing changes. As she recovered from this unexpected setback, Becky never lost sight of her breastfeeding goal. Her progress was slow, but Becky healed from her birth, built up her milk supply, and is still breastfeeding Emily