I have just gone through this very scenario personally. From first hand
experience, it was virtually impossible to eat or drink sufficiently during
my gall bladder attack. If this mother is currently undergoing severe pain,
this could certainly inhibit her supply. The pain to me was worse than
labor, and I was at 9 centimeters in transition for 9 hours! During the
attack,which went on for several days before I sought medical help, I felt
my supply diminishing as I became more and more dehydrated. I ultimately
decided to go forward with gall bladder surgery when my son was 10 days old
(after a cesarean delivery) in the hopes that I would heal faster. I believe
that I did, although the pain was excruciating post surgery. I did take
Vicodin for about 7 days post gall bladder surgery after having not needed
more than ibuprofen for post cesarean pain management.

It was a very good learning experience for me, and I believe it to have been
an ideal breastfeeding experience during surgery. My husband was called
while I was in recovery and brought our son to me. We were only separated
for the two hours that I was in surgery. I could have nursed immediately
post surgery, but mercifully, my son was sleeping. I was in a lot of pain,
and it took another hour before I felt strong enough to hold him. But, the
recovery nurse was prepared to help my husband hold our baby up to my
breast, should it come to that.

May I ask why the delay? My surgeon was initially reluctant to allow me to
nurse post surgery, but when pressed, he quickly went from "wean for 2
weeks" to "wean for 2 hours", and I think he learned a lot from my
experience too. :)

In my case, delaying surgery would have just prolonged the amount of time
that my milk supply was affected, and prolonged recovery time as well. My
surgery was laporoscopic, and there were no issues with pressure against my
cesarean incision, although I believe that was a risk factor.

Caroline Cameron
LLL Leader, Tallahassee, FL

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lactation Information and Discussion
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Alice Ernest
> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 6:37 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Low-fat diet
>
>
> A mother of a two week old has been put on a low-fat diet for
> gallstones.
> She will have gallbladder surgery when she recovers from her
> C-section :(.   She
> called me today for a breast pump.
> Baby is not gaining well, so I am wondering if low-fat could be a
> cause.  I
> will probably be doing a home visit to rule out other causes,
> check on milk
> transfer, etc.  In the meantime, I was wondering if the "good"
> fats, such as
> avacado, need to be avoided, or are we just talking about animal
> fat.  Would
> supplements, such as flaxseed oil help?  Would love to hear
> suggestions from
> nutritionists out there.
>
> Alice Ernest IBCLC-RLC
> Simpsonville, SC
>
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