Breast Engorgement for the Bereaved Mother

You may be experiencing quite a range of emotions, from sadness, bitterness, disbelief and extreme anger after the loss of your baby. The author of this brochure wants to give you her deepest sympathy for your loss.

 

My goal is to help you ease the pain of breast engorgement after your milk comes in. You may produce milk if you lost your baby as early as 16 weeks gestation. If you all ready had breast-feeding established before the loss of your baby your breast will continue making milk for sometime. Breast milk usually comes in around the 2 to 3 day after the birth of your baby. The amount of breast milk you make is in response to your individual body, breast stimulation, and the grieving process you will be going through. Engorged breast are swollen and feel like hot bricks that may be extremely painful to touch. At times, the nipple will retreat under surrounding tissue.

 

Suppressing your breast milk:

 

Your body will learn quickly that it does not need to produce milk if you follow this plan.

 

1. Do not express any milk from your breasts. The pressure of too much milk inside the breasts causes your body to stop producing milk. If that pressure is released than, your breasts will produce more milk.

 

2. You may feel lumps in your breasts. The lumps are caused by tissue swelling and may be uncomfortable for 3 to 4 days. For a few unfortunate women this may last as long as 10 days. After this time, you should not be in discomfort and the milk in your breasts will be gradually absorbed. Occasionally some women notice a few drops of milk for up to several months.

 

3. Here are is a list of things that may help during this uncomfortable period.

 

v      Wear a tight fitting bra day and night. A sports bra is a good choice.

 

v      Use icepacks or bags of frozen peas covered in a light cloth and apply these to your breast. Rotate the ice packs every 10 minutes. The coolness will reduce the swelling in your breasts.

v      Consult your physician about medication for pain relief. Ibuprofen (200mg) 2 to 3 tablets every 6 hours for at least 24 hours is recommend by most physicians.

 

v      Stand with your back to the flow of water when taking a shower. You should avoid the warm water your breasts.

v      Do not reduce your fluid intake. This will not reduce your milk supply and can make you dehydrated.

 

v      Applying chilled cabbage leaves on your breast can help ease discomfort. Your can slip them in-between your bra and breast.

 

v      If the pain is unbearable, you can lean over the sink or a bowl filled with warm water and submerges your nipples only. This will allow some of the milk to flow out relieving the pressure without encouraging your breast to produce more milk.

 

Established milk supply

 

If you all ready had established a milk supply before the loss of your baby there are a few more choices for you to choose from in reducing and suppressing your breast milk.

 

v      Pump your breasts six times a day for about 10 minutes, after the first day drop one pumping each day after.

 

v      Another less structured approach is to pump only when needed to reduce the discomfort of breast engorgement.

 

v      A lactation consultant can assist you with the details and arrangement of borrowing a breast pump.

 

As a side note, there is a controversial belief on the treatment of binding the breasts with an ace bandage. Some health care providers believe that this can reduce the production of breast milk and others feel that it can lead to an infection in the milk ducts called mastitis.

 

Call your doctor or midwife if you have any of these symptoms of mastitis.

 

v      A red area, which is tender to the touch, on your breast.

v      A temperature of 100 F or more.

v      You may feel feverish, tired, and achy. Some women complain of a headache.

 

 

 

Tamara Johnson

August, 2002

tamaratrav at aol .com

Counting since 2-6-05

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