I wonder if anyone can help me. R is a teenage single mother with a 10 month
old son who is breastfeeding. Her breastfeeding went well for 6 months until
Nov.5 when she developed a sharpish continuous pain in her L breast. The
pain is mostly in the upper area but at the chest wall area of the breast.
There is no involvement of the nipple or areola.The pain increases in
severity as her breast fills and eventually involves the whole breast.As the
breast is emptied the pain is less but an ache remains for several hours.
 The affected breast has always produced less than the R breast and she has
never felt a let down in this one. She regularly feels a let down in her R
breast.
The breast is quite soft with no obvious lumps, no inflammation and no signs
of thrush.She has never had a breast infection and has not taken any
medications since she became pregnant. Her baby has not been on medications
either.She has never had any nipple damage.
Her feeding position is very relaxed. She lounges in a chair using the
cradle hold or she lies down when she feeds. She tells me she often falls
asleep while feeding.
I did ask her if anything had changed for her on about Nov 5 in the way of
exercise, trauma, foods. She can't think of anything.
Although this does not appear to be a serious problem, for the mother it is
a big issue. I did suggest she only feed on the R breast but she is very
concerned about her body image as she would be definitely lop sided. She
does want to continue breastfeeding but if the pain continues she feels her
only option is to wean.She has done so well it would be a shame for her to
give up now.
 Her doctor hasn't any idea what the pain is either.
Looking forward to your comments. Thanks,
Robyn Dunning
RGON,RM,IBCLC.