Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA 
Brisbane, Qld, Australia 
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To Ashley,
Congratulations on being a first-time poster.
As regards the breastfeeding mother with an umbilical hernia and abdominal
pain:  It looks to me as if it is the nursing that is irritating, not the
breastfeeding. Breastfeeding should be comfortable using a different
position.  Some ideas:
- side-lying (as you mentioned)
- lying down with her baby beside her, sort of kneeling and leaning over her
to latch at the breast
- sitting, with the baby in the football hold
The above ideas involving lying down should also help by not putting any
pressure on the hernia.
The main thing is not to nurse the baby in the Madonna hold but to put
him/her to the breast from the side.  Then, just keep feeding to make up for
that missed feed.
She may need to think about positions that protect her herniated area if her
baby seems to need burping after finishing the breastfeed.
I hope this helps.
Virginia

Ashley Anderson wrote:
I received a question from a nursing mom about stomach pain.  ... third
child, 2 months old. ... umbilical hernia ... officially diagnosed in
September... surgery in a month.  She has had horrible stomach pains in just
the past few weeks, and in that time her hernia is no longer able to be
pushed back in.  ... wonder if nursing is causing irritation to her hernia.


I was wondering if any of you may have any knowledge about this?  The first
thing that came to mind for me was the position in which she nurses may be
putting pressure on the hernia, or possibly the uterine contractions while
nursing could cause irritation.  She will be sidelying tonight instead of
her usual cradle hold.

Thank you very much for any input!

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