I am having surgery but I am still breastfeeding

Well I am FINALLY having my umbilical hernia repaired, after living with the ugly thing for the past 3 years. I saw a specialist today and she has booked me in for a months time. She said she is very busy and is fitting me into a cancelled surgery and could not say when the next available date could be. So I jumped at it with huge excitement and did not put anymore thought into it. Though its only a day surgery, I will be going under while they repair it. I am worried about how long the drugs will stay in my system as obviously I wont be able to feed DD during this time.

As much as I want this surgery done desperately, I also struggled hard with BFing at the start and I am finally at a point where BFing is going really well (touch wood). DH doesnt seem to think its a huge problem as DD will be two weeks off 6 months, which was the age I was aiming to feed till. Though now that I am almost there I see no point in stopping. So how can I keep my supply up? Has anyone been in this situation? I am also worried that she will take to the bottle and refuse the breast when I am able to feed. I am a hopeless expresser so she will have to be on formula, which is no huge problem as she has a bottle now and then.

Any advice!?

Hi,
I doubt you will even have to miss a feed. She certainly won't have to have formula. Women have cesareans under a general anaesthic and breastfeed their babies as soon as they are awake. have some-one bring your baby to you. Let the Dr know you are breastfeeding and that you don't want that to be disrupted. Occasionally a Dr will suggest not breastfeeding for a period of time - but that's usually just because they are inexperienced and are not thinking it through.

I had day surgery when my DD1 was nearly 6 months old. I don't remember having to pump and dump. It's something you can discuss with the anaesthetist prior to admission, as there may be some drugs that are more appropriate when you're BFing. We had some frozen EBM, but I fed DD just prior to surgery and I think she had one smallish feed of EBM (we used a cup, not a bottle) while I was in surgery/recovery etc, and then I just fed her normally after that.

Good luck with the surgery - not pleasant to look forward to, but you'll be glad once it's behind you and hte problem is fixed :hug:

I never even though of those women who have babies under GA and breastfeed! Yay! Here I was thinking it would be at least 3 days before I could feed her. Well thats great!

MD - I definately AM looking forward to this surgery, I want my normal belly button back, I want to get the bikinis out again!

The only thing I'd be worried about would be that you really need to keep the fluids up while bfing and when you have the op you will be nil by mouth for at least 12 hours beforehad. So I'd be setting up a plan of attack to deal with that so you don't struggle with low supply.

Yup there should be no issues re feeding soon after the operation. I had to have my gallbladder out when DS was only 6 weeks old under GA. The surgeon, the anaesthic guy (sp?) and the nurse all had different opinions as to when I could feed ranging from 24 hours to straight away. I "pumped and dumped" straight after surgery and then went back to breastfeeding. You might want to make sure you have a triangular pillow to put around your stomach to make feeding more comfortable.

as the others have said there is no problem (yay!!). i had similar worries when i had my tonsils out and was BF DD1, but they all reassured me it was all AOK :)

(oh and goodluck with the surgery xx)

I had day surgery when my DD was about 12 months old and I was still BFing her. Yes Trill is right, it is nil by mouth for 12 hours before surgery. I talked to my anaesthetist about this and she allowed me to have one glass of water when I woke up the in morning. She also suggested I pump and dump the first feed after surgery. But I actually didn’t do this :hide: because I just couldn’t be bothered. I just waited a while to feed my DD and she was old enough to have food and water in the mean time.

And congratulations on your BFing journey.:dance: Onwards and upwards from here hey. :hug:

Thanks ladies.

Hmmm definately need a plan of attack as I have struggled on and off with low supply. I forgot to drink water yesterday, I think I had one glass, I was just so busy and it slipped my mind. I realllly noticed the difference at night.

The biggest thing to deal with the "no drinking or eating after midnight" issue is to get up at 11.30pm and have a couple of glasses of water and some food. Anxiety about surgery is bad enough without being overly hungry and thirsty as well...

And fold a big towel over your cut before feeding bub - after my CS a kick from a newborn hurt - a boot from a 6 month old would not be fun!

I know you have all the good advice you need, but i'm going to post anyway just to give you even more reassurance.

I had major and minor surgery whislt breastfeeding and had the most amazing anaesthetist (for 1 op) who made it his sole purpose to ensure i could bf as soon as i woke up. He said that i might not feel up to it though, (and that's ok), but he'd make sure I had no unnecessary drugs in me.

Please please talk to the anaesthetist before hand. If they aren't sure (some aren't 100% bf savvy) then get them to do some research.

Keep up the good work and don't go into it thinking that 'she's going to go on formula'. You'll be great, and back bfing in no time.

All the best with the op xx

I'm glad you are feeling more reassured that you will be able to have the operation and keep breastfeeding. Don't stress out too much about not being able to eat/drink before the op - most of us fast overnight anyway (ie we don't eat or drink from teatime to breakfast. As some-one said, you can get up and have a pre-midnight snack! Women make milk just fine and most women in the world don;t get near as much to eat and drink as we do! Just feed your baby as you normally would around the operation)

The advice I give to BFing women prior to surgery (and I make a lot of "be here at x time and fast from y time" calls as part of one of my nursing jobs) is to chat to the anesthetic team about exactly when they need to stop clear fluids. Some will extend the time for BFing women (but this depends on the anesthetist, the type of anesthetic they plan to use, your medical history, and their personal preferences over these things). So have a chat to them about it about a week before (or sooner).

In regards to pump and dump, none of the anesthetists I work with recommend that to patients. And they all make sure the patient receives extra IV fluids (unless there is a specific reason why they can't have extra fluids such as certain heart conditions) even if it is a short procedure.

HTH

MG

number one: if at all possible, express your little boobies off to have some good fatty milk stored up. the reason for this comes later.

it'll obviously be essential to speak to your anaesthetist and surgeon for their exact instructions, but with my surgery they were able to give me an epidural and then a light non-narcotic anaesthetic. This meant that I was still completely out throughout the surgery, but I could bf as soon as I woke up.

My lower half was still numb, but DH was there, and he could help me with my DS and hold him in position, etc. And it was pretty hard, but I was able to express overnight and have milk for him.

I'd been on liquid only and a bowel clear the day before, and had to stay on liquid only for a few days, so my milk was really, really thin - but it was still fine for DS to drink, and because I had some stored, DH could give him some of the thin, and some of the good fatty milk too, so DS wasn't drinking but still hungry ITMS.

But be sure not to be doing this all if it ends up stressing you more out, and then that stress wearing or burning you out, making your recovery slower ...

be kind to yourself!

and all the best for the impending bikinis ;)

Thanks so much everyone.

Kmn - Good idea about the pre midnight snack, thats something I will be doing. I will definately have a cushion or blankie ready to make feeding more comfy. I have had surgery on my tummy before and it was so sore for a week or so, and I wasnt feeding then so bit scary....

Thanks again ladies, I have taken your fab abvice onboard. I will definately be speaking to the anaesthatist prior to the op.

Also my mum has reassured me too. My sis was sick as a baby and spent two weeks being tube fed and my mum thought oh well thats the end of breastfeeding for us. But two weeks after, she offered her the boob and she took it. Mind you she spent a week on the lounge building her supply back up, but she did it. If mum can go two weeks, I can do this easy!

if you've been working on your lactation for a little while (which I gather from your earlier post) this is probably nothing new, but just in case, things which I found helped are:

o fenugreek tea and pills
o fennel tea (and it's yummy, too!)
o lots and lots and lots of water
o lots and lots of sleep
o lactation cookie dough (not cooked ... didn't taste great, but oh well :))

good luck, isadora!

I know you have had some great advice I just wanted to add my story. Just after the birth of dd2 I noticed a mark on my left nipple and it grew really rapidly. I eventually saw a surgeon when dd2 was 3 weeks old and he booked me in for surgery the next week.
I got heaps of advise here, aba, my midwives and family and the drs made sure the drugs I had were ok for a bf mum. Xh brought dd2 to the waiting room so I could feed just before surgery and then to the recovery room so i fed immediately afterwards as well.
I did have to express on the left for two weeks until my scar healed but we continued to feed until she was 15 months old.
Surgery can be scary but it doesn't mean cutting back on bf'ing if you don't want it too.
GL


Sent from my iPhone so short and sweet

Thanks peanutter - I have definately found a tonne of water and the cookies help me. Sleep does too but not much of that going on in this household lately!

Ryatha - Thanks for that. You did really well. Expressing isnt easy so well done to you.

Just wanted to update for anyone who might be going through a similar situation and stumbles across this thread.

Everything went perfectly for my surgery yesterday. I fed DD right before I went in and about and 1.5 hrs after I got out and settled. DH gave her one bottle during this time. The anesthatist was fantastic, he was mindful of the fact that I am breastfeeding and stuck to drugs he knew were safe and had been used for many years. He advised there was no need to pump and dump and the longer I wait the less it is in my system. That being said if I fed right after it wouldnt do baby any harm, he literally gave me enough to get me through the surgery and to provide a small amount of pain relief after. I also had antibiotics pumped in but they were all safe for breastfeeding mums. No need to worry at all. So just wanted to reassure anyone going in for surgery (this was a minor day surgery mind) that speak to your dr, there should be no issue.

AWESOME! Thanks for the update.
I so glad that it went well for you - i only wish everyone had such positive breastfeeding responses.

yay for you!! :clap:

that's awesome :hug: