I have a close friend who experienced severe mastitis during her third
pregnancy.  She breastfed her first without problems for about a year.
With her second baby, she was hospitalized with severe mastitis at two
weeks.  It recurred during the first two months and she threw in the
towel and used formula.  When pregnant with her third, she was
determined to breastfeed and was dismayed when she developed mastitis
half way through the pregnancy.  She successfully breastfed her baby for
four years and these are the things that made it work:

*She was very determined that would she breastfeed.  Unfortunately, her
second (and only formula baby) developed allergies & asthma, so she felt
strongly about doing all she could for her next baby's health.  *She
searched for and found a group of doctors who felt as she did about
breastfeeding and were willing to take her unusual case seriously.  The
doctors worked together in a practice, so she could always find a doctor
in a pinch who would have access to her file.  *While pregnant, she
began a prophylactic, low-dose course of antibiotics to prevent a
reoccurrence.  She remained on antibiotics for several months
post-partum until she felt comfortable going off of them.  She was in
close contact with her doctor(s) during this time.  *She became intimate
with her breasts.  She checked her breasts manually while breastfeeding
and always "massaged out" areas that felt "lumpy" where she thought she
might develop a blocked duct.

The good news is that she really had no problems at all, probably due to
her very conscientious breast care throughout.  She lived in fear of
mastitis for many, many months but now feels a tremendous glow of
success at having overcome this challenge.

Leslie White, LLLL
Deep River, Ontario

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