Breastfeeding After Surgery? Here's What Mothers Must Know – News18

Breastfeeding is the process of feeding breast milk to infants that provides them with essential nutrients and calcium. But these days, many women undergo breast surgery for various reasons and the question arises if breastfeeding is possible after a surgery. Well, post surgery, breastfeeding might be a challenging task but it is not impossible. Many women can still breastfeed their babies successfully, depending on the type of surgery and the extent to which glandular tissue or milk ducts are impacted.

Here we’ve mentioned some important points to consider when breastfeeding after surgery.

Milk Production

Women who have undergone partial or total mastectomy for breast cancer may have a lower ability to breastfeed or produce milk. Partial or total mastectomy can result in the removal of breast tissue as well as harm to lactation-related nerves.

Supplementation

Supplementing breastfeeding is giving a baby more milk or formula in addition to breast milk. A tiny tube is placed on the nipple to provide the baby with more breast milk or formula from a container during feeding. Apart from that, a mother can give their kid pumped milk or formula through a bottle, but it is preferable to wait until they are adapted to breastfeeding.

Seek Medical Support

Mothers with hypoplastic breasts may be unable to produce adequate milk for their infants. They will require lactation support to learn how to increase production and supplement with pasteurised donor human milk or formula.

Take Care of Your Diet

Your diet plays an important role in developing breast milk after surgery. It is recommended that new mothers eat protein-rich food like meat, fish, eggs and dairy products like milk, yogurt and cottage cheese among others. After treatment, one must also avoid smoking and drinking as these can lower milk production.

Massage

Massaging your breasts can stimulate milk production after surgery. Massage your breasts gently before and during feedings to boost milk production and express more milk.

Breast milk contains healthy nutrients like proteins, vitamins, minerals, antibodies, fat, lactose, carbohydrates, hormones and enzymes among others for the development of the infant.