Have any of you ever dealt with a hematoma on a lip?  I'll have to admit
this is no longer a breastfeeding question.  It's also possible it's not
a hematoma.  Mother was in my last infant class at WIC before I left
work on Wednesday anxious to get home and start meal preparations for
Thanksgiving.  The baby is six months old and after class the mother
wanted to know how she could feed the baby solids.  One side of the lip
is very swollen the mother mentioned the word tumor and then said it's a
hema  something.  I used the word hematoma and she said yes that is it.
She did say it was blood leaking into the lip tissue.  It began to grow
when the baby was a month old and mother gave up breastfeeding although
she had successfully breastfed two other children.  The baby is drinking
16 oz.  (two full bottles) of formula in a feeding.   She is spitting up
incessantly.  She was spitting up a lot during the class.  Mother is
feeding the bottle from the unswollen side of the mouth.  When she tries
to spoon feed from the side the baby can not get the food down.  It just
dribbles out again.  The pediatrician says that he has never seen one of
these on a lip before but on other parts of the body they grow for a
time and in two or three years usually go away on their own so surgery
is not a medical necessity.  I called in the R.D.  she was familiar with
the pediatric office and suggested getting a second opinion.   I've been
thinking alot about how feeding from the side of the mouth would
interrupt the normal wave like pattern of digestion.  Also how important
the top lip is to eating off a spoon as well as to breastfeeding.  This
wasn't the clinic where I normally work but if anyone has any ideas I
could give them to the R.D.  at that office.  My main concern is if the
woman had come to me at the time the swelling began are there any ways I
could have saved the breastfeeding?

Judy Goodall DTR, IBCLC
In Phoenix where the gorgeous weather of the past week has turned cloudy
and rainy but not cold.