When I was pregnant with my second baby, my daughter Ada, I was so determined to breastfeed after a rocky road trying to feed my son.
The short side of that story is that I had no support with my son and although I did manage to breast feed him until he was 5 months, our journey was cut short with a dairy intolerance that I had no help with.
I knew I wanted a c-section
I also knew this time around that I wanted a C-section as my first birthing experience and recovery was so horrendous. I felt more in control going with a C-section and was sure I wouldn’t have the awful recovery I had the first time (Episiotomy infection that meant I couldn’t walk).
I was very wrong!
Knowing that I had a planned c-section made me so much less anxious. I was happily harvesting colostrum in preparation for the first feeds and my milk potentially taking longer to come in. My partner was so supportive and encouraging on the days when I didn’t collect as much as previous days. I never knew about colostrum harvesting with my first child!
My waters broke early
Ada had a different idea to our c-section date and my waters broke 6 days early on a Friday evening. Luckily I wasn’t dilated much and could still go ahead for my section. We did go to theatre in the middle of the night and as I was about to have my spinal done when we were told we had to leave again. There was another emergency so I didn’t have the section until the morning.
I completely closed off to everything that was happening to calm myself down as I’m a very anxious person. There was a point where Ada flipped as they were about to pull her out and I remember the room suddenly filled with people. She had gone into a breech position and the surgeon could not get her out. Everything was fine in the end, apart from her little bruised face.
I completely closed off to everything that was happening to calm myself down as I’m a very anxious person.
The midwives needed to see baby latched on
As soon as I was stitched up we went to the recovery room and I latched her on for her first breastfeed. It was such a perfect moment as we stayed that way for what seemed like hours.
The next day I was very keen to go home! I felt great and was ready to go back home to my son and introduce him to his new sister. The midwives wouldn’t let us go until they saw Ada was latched on and breastfeeding well. I would press the buzzer for them to come and see her latched on but by the time they came, she had stopped feeding!
We were eventually allowed home that evening and my milk came in a few days later.
Further challenges once we were home
I think people can warn you of the painful wind after a section but you’ll never really know until you experience it! It was something else but peppermint tea and chewing gum did help slightly.
Ada developed jaundice and I was feeding her as much as possible to try and get rid of it. However, her bilirubin levels kept going up over the week. I also noticed she was showing similar symptoms to her brother in terms of a dairy intolerance so I made the decision to cut diary out of my diet.
Ada developed jaundice and I was feeding her as much as possible to try and get rid of it.
Throughout the week, I was feeling more and more unwell but I just put it down to my body trying to fix itself back together. It was also hard to breastfeed comfortably after a c-section due to having a sore stomach but a breastfeeding pillow really helped with that. Plus I made sure to have lots of support behind my back too.
We called 111 when she wouldn’t wake up for a feed
One week after she was born she was still very yellow from the jaundice and by the afternoon we couldn’t wake her up to feed. We called 111 and were sent straight to hospital.
Also, by this point I was struggling to walk. I made it from the hospital car park to A&E and then collapsed with a temperature of 39.4! We were both admitted together to the children’s A&E and I was promised that we would be kept together when moved to a ward. At some point during the night they changed their mind and being wheeled away from my screaming baby will haunt me forever. I asked if I could feed her but was told we needed to be booked in!
I was convinced formula would make her more poorly
My partner went with Ada and he knew I desperately didn’t want her to have any formula. I was convinced it would make her more poorly with the dairy intolerance.
I was transferred to my bed in my own private room. I couldn’t even sit up but my lovely midwife bought me a breast pump because I was so upset about not being able to feed my baby. I managed to pump while slumped in my hospital bed and they raced it up to my baby just in time before they were going to give her formula. My partner said it was a movie moment with them bursting through the door with my breast milk.
We were reunited 4 hours later and I had to navigate breastfeeding with a cannula. At one point I had to have two in one arm! We never found out what was wrong with Ada but she got much better after a round of antibiotics.
We were reunited 4 hours later and I had to navigate breastfeeding with a cannula.
I breastfed through sepsis and a hematoma
I had an infection which turned out to be sepsis. I also had a haematoma in my stomach that caused my c-section scar to leak fluid through multiple holes. Through all of this I still managed to breastfeed my baby. It has to be one of my proudest moments of my life.
Ada is still exclusively breastfed now at 7 months old despite all the hurdles we had in our way.
Breastfeeding after a c-section
Read more articles and mama stories about the realities of breastfeeding after a c-section.
