Breast feeding & Anaesthetic

[Mataamua]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone, might be able to give me some advice, I have to have an operation, In a months time, and DD is BF. I am worried about BF my DD after I wake up from the Anaesthetic. And the possible side effects for DD if the Anaesthetic passes through my milk, I wonder if anyone else has been in the same situation. Also my DD will not take a bottle. Not even with EBM , And at 7 months I know she still needs her milk. how can i get her to take a bottle in case I am too unwell after the op to BF ??? :confused:

[Chickadee]

Hi,
I dont have any advice for you unfortunately, I haven't been in your situation but I know some of our other members have been and may be able to help.

I'll just reopen the thread for you so that they can post their answers :)

Good luck.

[Mataamua]

thankyou very much :)

[Jakes Mummy]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone, might be able to give me some advice, I have to have an operation, In a months time, and DD is BF. I am worried about BF my DD after I wake up from the Anaesthetic. And the possible side effects for DD if the Anaesthetic passes through my milk, I wonder if anyone else has been in the same situation. Also my DD will not take a bottle. Not even with EBM , And at 7 months I know she still needs her milk. how can i get her to take a bottle in case I am too unwell after the op to BF ??? :confused:


Hi Maoribubsmum

I have had a few issues with medication - not anaesthetic I know but I hope the below info helps. Like your bub my bub does not like the bottle much either - he has from about 6 - 7 mths prefered a cup or stage 2 avent bottle.

I wasn't going to give up breastfeeding at all so I rang a few helplines listed below -

MEDICATION AND BREASTFEEDING
Monash Medical Centre Drug info - 03 9594 2361
Mothersafe - 02 9382 6539 if you are in the country 1800 647 848

Also try the Australian Breastfeeding Asso in your state or www.breastfeeding.asn.au

I have Crohns Disease and sometimes when I am stressed - I need to take medication that bub can not have in his milk when he was around 7 mths and this happened I would (on advise from GP) fill him up with breast milk and his food (puree/ custard) take medication normally at night and then wait it out hoping distraction, sleep or water would keep him going for at least 6 hours. There were times earlier on that I would comp him with formula during the day.

Luckily the above has only happened a few times and now he is older I am fine and still breastfeeding :smiliedance:

I really hope this helps - find out all the info you need and then go from there and have a plan!

Good Luck

Kathryne

[BJelly]

Hi there,

I had a general anaesthetic when bub was 2 mths old. It was an emergency, so I didn't have any EBM stocked up. I was told bubs wouldn't be able to feed from me for 24 hours after the anaesthetic - so my baby was on formula for a few days - this was because the hospital Dr's also weren't sure if the antibiotics they put me on after the surgery were safe for a BF baby, so I had bubs on formula until I went to my GP and she rang some pharmacology place that was knowledgable about these things and found out I could continue BF on the antibiotics.

My baby was fine with the formula and she came back to the BFing fine too - she's a very placid baby. In fact at 13 mths she's still BFing. If you are concerned maybe a CHN might be able to give you some advice about how to encourage your bub to feed from a bottle - you certainly don't need anymore stress at the moment.

Wishing you all the best for bub and you.

Edited to add, the hospital got me a mechanical breast pump from the Women's Hospital so I could express my milk, but it had to be thrown out because of the anaesthetic and antibiotics. But at least I could keep comfortable and keep my milk supply up so I could return to BFing.

[Notchalk]

You can breastfeed after a general anaesthetic. Once you are awake after an anaesthetic, the drugs are pretty much out of your system, as they have a very short half-life.

As for breastfeeding physically after an op, depending on what it is how easy it will be - could you feed laying on your side? Semi-sitting with pillows holding baby in the right place? A nice husband holding the baby to your breast? At 7 months I am guessing feeds don't go for very long now, so he shouldn't get a sore arm ;)

Good luck!

Jo

[kuz78au]

You can breastfeed after a general anaesthetic. Once you are awake after an anaesthetic, the drugs are pretty much out of your system, as they have a very short half-life.


Hello, this is so true! I had an operation when bubs was 5 weeks old and b/f fine after general an. You shouldn't have any problems :D

[Mataamua]

Thankyou very much ladies, for your words of wisdom, You have helped so much to put my mind at ease.good to know that I can still BF after the op, been stressing out a bit, thanks again :)

[Tam-I-Am]

I also had a general anasthetic when bubs was 17 weeks old - they told me to express and discard 1 feed and then I could go back to breastfeeding. The trouble that I found was that bubs then refused breast for the next 2 weeks - it was a very stressful time, and I can the closest I ever have to weaning her.

I was later told that GA can sometimes change the taste of the breastmilk and that babies can object to this, leading to the kind of behaviour that my DD had.

The good news is, we persevered, and at age 9 months, our breastfeeding relationship is still going strong. So if your bubba refuses the breast - even tho this is very difficult and stressful - it doesn't last forever. So persevere - its worth it!!

I hope this doesn't happen to you, but I thought I would just let you know so you can be prepared for the possibility!

[chillifly]

Hi,

I had my gallbladder out a week and a half ago and was told by my surgeon and the nurses that I was fine to BF a couple of hours after the operation. As has been said before, once you wake up, it's pretty much out of your system. I had planned on expressing one feed away (tip down the sink) and then starting, but I ended up with a 7inch incision + the keyhole surgery cuts so I was just in too much pain to do it. The surgeon had actually made arrangements with the hospital to allow DD to board with me for the duration of my stay, but I was just in too much pain. I was given morphine on a regular basis too and was told I could BF with it (apparently they do with cesarians). The only time I was told not to BF her was 24 hours after having a ct-scan where they give you some funky sort of gel which is a bit nasty for bubs.

I expressed for 5 days whilst in hospital (not the easiest thing when you can't sit up, let alone lean forward) and tipped it all down the sink - had no way to store it.:crying:

When I first went to BF DD first time she screamed and carried on - much harder than the bottle mum!! Took us about 24 hours to get it back on track - with tears from me, DD (and I think even DH) - but do perservere! Even when the bony elbows get you in your sorest spot, know that you're doing it because you want to do it and will make it work no matter what. We're all behind you!!:thumbsup:

I'm sure you won't have a problem but as for feeding from the bottle?? Maybe put little milk on the outside of the teat so DD can get the taste of it when it's in her mouth and she knows it's the good stuff ;)

Good luck!

[Mataamua]

[QUOTE=Tami-and-Claire]I also had a general anasthetic when bubs was 17 weeks old - they told me to express and discard 1 feed and then I could go back to breastfeeding. The trouble that I found was that bubs then refused breast for the next 2 weeks - it was a very stressful time, and I can the closest I ever have to weaning her.

I was later told that GA can sometimes change the taste of the breastmilk and that babies can object to this, leading to the kind of behaviour that my DD had.

Hi ,
And thanks, That was a very interesting bit of info, I am sorry you had a hard time but good on you for managing to keeping up the BF, hopfully we can do the same. :fingerscrossed:

[Mataamua]

Hi,

When I first went to BF DD first time she screamed and carried on - much harder than the bottle mum!! Took us about 24 hours to get it back on track - with tears from me, DD (and I think even DH) - but do perservere! Even when the bony elbows get you in your sorest spot, know that you're doing it because you want to do it and will make it work no matter what. We're all behind you!!:thumbsup:

I'm sure you won't have a problem but as for feeding from the bottle?? Maybe put little milk on the outside of the teat so DD can get the taste of it when it's in her mouth and she knows it's the good stuff ;)

Good luck!

Hi, ,I hope your feeling better, thats great you are still feeding even after such a stressful time, when it could have been easier to just bottle feed, Thankyou for your support, :hugs: