Mastitis: OK to express instead of breast-feed?
I have just been diagnosed with mastitis in my right breast. It is extremely hard, tender and sore. My doctor prescribed antibiotics and recommended I keep breast-feeding. My baby refuses to feed on the affected breast because he cannot latch on properly because of the extreme hardness. I have been pumping the affected breast after he feeds on the other. Is it OK to express milk from the affected breast until it heals?
Your doctor was right. It is very important to continue breast-feeding your baby when you have mastitis. Frequent emptying of your breasts will help you recover more quickly. It also helps to maintain your milk production in that breast. To reduce your engorgement, it is important to begin frequent feeding or gentle expressing of your milk (if your baby refuses to breast-feed).
It can sometimes be difficult to persuade a baby to feed on the side affected by mastitis. This may not only be due to the engorgement, but also because your milk's sodium content rises when mastitis is present. (This occurs only in the affected breast.) Babies are usually not too happy with salty-tasting breast milk. Your milk will return to normal once your infection is gone and you are no longer engorged.
It is very important to your milk supply (in the affected breast) to reduce the engorgement quickly. Express your milk every hour and a half. While you are severely engorged, express for no longer than ten minutes at a time. Use the lowest (intermittent) pressure setting on an electric pump when beginning to express your milk. You don't want to take the chance of damaging your delicate breast tissue.
Before expressing your milk, use warm moist compresses or a saline soak (soaking your breast in a basin of warm water with half to one teaspoon of salt per cup of water) for around ten minutes. When it is combined with a gentle breast massage, your milk should begin to start flowing. You also might want to try hand-expressing for a few minutes before using a pump. Some women are able to let down more easily with hand-expression.
For comfort, apply an ice pack to your affected breast for about 15 minutes in between feeds. (A pack of frozen peas works well.) This should help to reduce the swelling as well as the pain. Speak to your health visitor or GP about using paracetamol, if needed, for pain relief.
Best wishes for a prompt recovery from mastitis.
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