For the 28 week breast pain:
 
It is possible that it could be mastitis. I had a patient in L&D last year (I float there) who had mastitis during her first pregnancy at about 32 weeks. She had every symptom, but I had never heard of mastitis occurring prior to delivery, so at first I didn't think it could be mastitis. I did some research and it is rare, but it can happen. It's more common in areas with poor sanitation, poor hygiene and very young mothers whose breasts are still developing. This patient was 16 years old. She had let it go for awhile, not knowing what was happening. Her breast was red and her temp was 104. She had IV antibiotics and recovered well. One of the L&D nurses that I work with is from India, she confirmed that mastitis during pregnancy is frequently seen there. 
 
Regarding Chiropractors:
 
I'm sad to hear people bad mouthing chiros in this day and age. They are a respected profession and do so much good. I myself had a slipped disc and was treated with all the usually standard medical treatments by an MD for over a year with no improvement, including 2 epidurals. I had one visit to a chiro and was 90% better. I also had the experience of recommending that a breastfeeding mother take her baby to see a chiropractor because the infant was extremely colicky, refused to nurse at the breast, had a traumatic forceps delivery and seemed to have terrible digestive problems, wouldn't turn her head, it took the baby almost an hour to drink 30 ml of EBM at 6 weeks. She was so nervous about bringing the baby after people had told her horror stories. But after one visit the baby was noticeably happier, and finished a bottle in 15 min. Two weeks later she was nursing at the breast and the colic was gone. It was like a completely different baby. I
 couldn't believe it myself. 
 
The article cited as evidence against chiropractors stated that the infant suffered a small fracture in a vertebrae but recovered completely and was totally fine. The chiro was given additional training on treating children, he was not sued or his license suspended. I think it is ridiculous to take this one incident as an indictment against an entire profession. Anyone that works in healthcare has made mistakes, HCPs are human beings and human beings are fallible. There is no getting around that. I have seen MD's make mistakes before too, and some of these mistakes have resulted in harm, does that mean I should stop going to doctors too? I think there are people in all professions who are not competent, I think we can also admit that there are some LC's who probably shouldn't be practicing, too, but that is not most of them. If our standard is perfection, I think we are all in trouble. 
 
Tricia Shamblin, RN, IBCLC

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