I have the mother's permission to post.
I have been in contact with this mohter/baby dyad for about 3 months. The
mother and infant showed typical symptons of oversupply in the first
couple of months of breastfeeding (baby fussy at the breast, green
stooling, etc.). Limiting feeds to one side per feed has somewhat
alleviated the problem. The mother is still producing copius amounts of
milk (baby is 4 months old, happy and healthy, although still exhibiting
some signs of consuming too much foremilk). I spoke with the mother
yesterday, and she would like to increase the interval on each side to 4
hours to ehllp get things more in balance.
HOWEVER...
The mother is suffering from persistant, painful milk blisters and plugged
ducts. She saw her MD, who told her the blisters and plugs did not "seem
that bad" and did not require intervention. Well, mama is in pain. That
does not seem right to me. She does not consume much saturated fat, and is
going to start taking flax oil and lecithin suppliments. Hopefully, that
will provide her with some releif. She has tried warm compresses, with
some releif. She is hesitant to pump or use manual expression, lest her
supply increase.
How can I help this mother cope with the oversupply and the plugs and
blisters? She is very concerned that her baby be content, and wants to
feed for longer at each side. However, she is concerned that this will
increase her problems with plugs. That seems like a reasonable concern to
me. She has stated that she considers the plugs to be a lesser problem
than the oversupply. While I applaud her desire to do what is best for her
infant, I am concerned that she is going to suffer through weeks or months
of pain while her body gets into balance with her infant's needs.
Does anyone have any ideas??? I certainly do not want to encourage her to
try something that will increase the plugs and possibly put her at risk
for mastitis.
BTW, this mother strikes me as the type who would walk twenty miles over
broken glass to breastfeed her son. I think that she is probably
minimizing how uncomfortable she is at this point. I just want to help her
find a solution that is good for both mama and baby.
--Kellie Whitney, LLLL
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