Did you have a medicated birth and still Breastfeed?

[ltrip84]

I hope to breastfeed when I have my baby. I have been reading "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" and the writers seem to be against any medications during labor and the traditional hospital labor routine. My question for all of you breastfeeding mothers is, did you have medication, no medication, vaginal delivery, c section delivery? I would just like to view the poll answers to see which ones seem to have more success breastfeeding.

If you have anything you would like to add, please do.

 

[history_girls]

Dd1-induced three times, epidural, 12 hour labour, exhausted me - gave up bf on day 3.

Dd2 - natural water birth, two hour labour, bf bubba - made it to week 3 so far!!

 

[misspriss]

I had induced premature labor at 33 weeks due to preeclampsia, failure to progress at 36 hours, EMCS with epidural, for 24 hours AFTER birth (not including the 28 before) I had mag sulfate, plenty of pain meds, my son was in the NICU and wasn't allowed to feed for 3 full days due to the mag sulfate in HIS body, had to pump to bring in my supply, and had to pump to feed him through NG tube for 2.5 weeks. Had to be driven to and from the hospital for 2 weeks twice a day to attempt to feed him, while pumping every 3 hours, and he had to use nipple shields for 10 weeks.

In an ideal world, you could give birth with no medications and your baby would latch right on and feed perfectly. That is what the book is going for. That doesn't happen that often.

Really, it is quite rare that you CAN'T breastfeed, it's just, how long and hard are you willing to work at it.

ETA: I also didn't get to see LO for 27 hours after the surgery, and then I got to hold him for maybe 2 minutes, and then didn't get to see him for several more hours.

 

[Tacey]

I think that a medicalised birth can have the effect of putting hurdles in your way, but they aren't insurmountable. Personally, I decided to rank things in order of what I'd be happiest with. Number one was drug free, then G&A, next was epidural - I decided not to have pethidine because of the potential effect on the baby. Looking at the pros and cons of each helped me feel I would be able to choose the right option for me depending on how my labour went.

Good luck!

 

[optimistic1]

I had pain killers and an epidural and have been breastfeeding problem free for 4 months. I wanted drug free but the entire time I was pregnant I kept telling myself it wasn't going to be painful and HUGE shocker it was very painful...

 

[babybloo]

I was induced due to pre e with cervadil, then had morphine, then an epidural. I had so wanted an unmedicated birth but it was a lot more painful then I felt I was able to cope with. My blood pressure was very high so it all helped me to relax and stay on my side in bed.

I have been breastfeeding for almost two weeks. We had latching problems at first but we are both learning and it is much better already! I wanted to give up but once you get past the initial difficulties it gets better.

 

[JenX]

I had a failed induction with two failed epidurals, a failed spinal block when they went to do a C section, and was finally put all the way under with general anesthesia. I have been breastfeeding for 5 and a half months now. There was a tiny but of supplementation at the hospital and the first 2 days at home, but beyond that she's been exclusively breastfed.

 

[MoldyVoldy]

i was induced with pitocin. had stadol. when it wore off (i thanked god when it did because i hated it) i had an epidural. after birth i had codeine for pain. i've been breastfeeding for 4 years like someone else mentioned, it's not necessarily about the medications but rather about how hard you're willing to work at it.

 

[aliss]

My medicated (Pitocin, morphine, epidural) labour resulted in horrible nursing problems and we were on formula by week 1. He was a dystocia baby born with a broken collarbone (I couldn't push properly with epidural), so it was impossible to nurse him without him being in pain.

My unmedicated 2nd birth, I have not had one issue with nursing. Straight latch and he did great.

 

[dizzy65]

DS 1- induced than had some morphine and fentenol and breast fed him for 5 months, but it took 3 days to get him to latch properly as well

DS 2- induced and had a shot of morphine but it wore off before i gave birth, so it was a All natural vaginal Birth. latched right away. Still breast feeding at just about 5 months

 

[FAB mama]

I was induced, and got failure to progress and then a c-section. We've had no real problems BF'ing. I guess the biggest hurdles early on were positioning (trying not to hurt the c-section area) and being stuck in the bed, having trouble lifting LO in the hospital (and complete exhaustion from too many visitors but that's another story). I don't think the medications were a problem.

 

[Janers]

I had a c section, no skin to skin, my LO was in the NICU with heart issues. But here we are at 10.5 months and I have the most amazing breastfeeding relationship!

 

[Kellen]

Water broke at 3:27am on Feb 4th. Was only 3cm by 11pm. Hooked up to pitocin. Progressed to 7cm. Tried a waterbirth, but was denied as baby didn't come by 3:30am (24 hour rule due to chance of infection). Epidural at 5:30am. Baby born at 7:01am. Immediately did skin to skin and had a lactation consultant helping with positioning and latching.
Unfortunately LO stopped breathing as we were BFing two hours after birth. She was rushed to the NICU and was on a ventilator for two days. Her blood sugar also dropped dramatically. The NICU doctor told us because her sugars were so low we would be forced to supplement with formula. But DH and I stood firm and requested that we be given the chance to feed her once before introducing formula. I was then introduced to the hospital grade breast pump and produced a teeny bit of colostrum that we then fed to her via syringe. Sugars came up! No formula.
Even after getting jaundice, fighting with inverted nipples and many different wires (IV's, monitors) we still BF. At 8 months we are still going strong. As a PP it is about tenacity. I wanted to BF and was willing to fight for it. Yes, I wanted an unmedicated waterbirth, but it didn't happen. So what? I am able to provide for my healthy little girl who is now over 20lb and 31 inches.

 

[bananaz]

I had fentanyl and an epidural during labor and they didn't have any effect on my ability to breastfeed. My daughter was born very alert and eager to latch. My milk came in right on time.

 

[zorak]

I labored completely med free until 10 cm and then some pushing. Baby was stuck and we were aiming for a vaccum so I had an epidural. 5 hours later I had to have a section - turned out he was 10lb and facing the wrong way.

I breastfed colostrum within 2 hours and my milk came in within 3 days.

 

[NoodleSnack]

I didn't have pain med, but my contractions weakened after a few hours of pushing so we ended up using ventuous and had severe hemorrhage, I couldn't feed him the first day and he had formula, we had problems with over supply and overactive letdown, when it should have been the opposite problems, so I don't think my labor affect my bf. What's important is perseverance, if your baby is healthy, you just have to work through all the difficulties that you face.

 

[Celesse]

#1 Epidural, emergency c-section
#2 G&A, local anaesthetic (in the foof), Forceps

Both children have had issues with breastfeeding in the beginning.

I think when they say "difficult/medicated birth makes breastfeeding harder"-
it doesn't mean:"makes it less likely you can breastfeed"
but means: "you need to work harder in the early days to make breastfeeding successful".

 

[ttc bubby no2]

My first was induced (with gels) due to PE, I had one shot of pethadine, 4 hour active labour. He was a very sleepy baby and I had trouble getting him to latch at first but we got through all that and he fed until 15 months (I weaned him to TTC).

My 2nd was born drug free at home, he latched straight away and has been feeding ever since (just over 2 years old now).

 

[Flake-y]

I was induced, had gas & air & diamorphine, then eventually forceps. Had no problems at all BFing.

Generally c-sections can have problems BFing because there can be more of a delay between birth & the first feed. And sometimes with diamorphine etc babies can be quite sleepy & have difficulty latching.

One of the most important things for BFing success is the have skin to skin & to BF as soon as possible after birth. Even with a section, there's no reason why you can't have skin to skin while the stitching is being done.

 

[ltrip84]

Thank you all so much for your answers. I was starting to feel really bad because I plan to have an epidural, but I really don't feel comfortable having an unmedicated birth. Epidurals are pretty standard here in the US and as far as I know, hospitals here (where I live) don't offer Gas and Air either.

I feel a lot more confident now that as long as I set my mind to it, I SHOULD be able to breastfeed no matter what happens as long as there aren't HUGE/SERIOUS issues.