Christine asks: <If epidurals cause breastfeeding problems then why do most of these babies nurse well at the first feeding? Is the epidural not affecting them within the first hour? Or does it have more to do with the fact that babies haven't been separated for very long in the first hour so the effects don't show up until later? Thanks. :-) I am convinced that at least one reason is because epidurals are accompanied by IV's. Plus pitocin, with antidiuretic properties, depending on the dose, often goes before, or ongoing after delivery. Depending on the volume of IV fluids a mom receives during the intrapartum period, there is often a direct correlation with the amount of edema that gradually forms in her tissues, the breast included, till her kidneys can accomplish fluid balance, sometimes taking 10-14 days for edema to resolve completely. So she starts out with little or no edema and only a small amunt of colostrum in her breast at the first feeding. Then the volume of "creeping edema" added to the growing glandular engorgement with milk is continually changing the resistance of the areola, thus effecting the baby's ability to latch on to it easily. Park GE, Hauch MA, Curlin F, Datta S, Bader AM, The effects of varying volumes of crystalloid administration before Cesarean delivery on maternal hemodynamics and colloid osmotic pressure, Anesth Analg 1996; 83:299-303. Hawthorne L, Slaymaker J, Bamber J, Dresner M, Effect of fluid preload on maternal haemodynamics for low-dose epidural analgesia in labour, International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia 2001;10:312-315. Jean ******** K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC Dayton, OH USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html