Breastfeeding can hurt. That would be absurd to deny it and make mothers who have pain feel that they are underestimating what they express or produce guilt if, when they explain it, their complaint is minimized, they are complained or they are told how much others endure. This is not the solution. Breastfeeding can hurt but it shouldn't hurt. If it hurts, there is a problem.
But yes, there is a solution in almost all cases, provided that a good advisor is found to help us identify the problem and find the treatment, which can be postural and, in some cases, pharmacological.
Causes of breastfeeding pain
Yes pain occurs at the beginning of breastfeeding and, above all, at the beginning of the shot, it may simply be that the nipple is not accustomed to the grip stimulus and the discomfort should give way along the teat and will disappear in a few weeks.
However, we may encounter pains that don't go away and that they remain during the whole tetada. In this case the cause can be a problem of grip, the use of teats or pacifiers that have produced a defective suction, that the baby has a frenulum or micrognathia, Raynaud's syndrome and various infections of the nipple, the aura or the breast tissue.
Therefore yes breastfeeding is painful Let's understand that there is a problem that interferes with breastfeeding and makes this natural physiological mechanism hurts when it shouldn't hurt. This pain can range from a discomfort leading to something difficult to explain with words, but which some women refer to as an internal burn or pins that stick in their chest.
It is not that it is usual, nor should we be afraid to breastfeed for that small number of cases, but it should help us to better understand those who refer this and to understand that, without adequate help, they can give up a desired breastfeeding.
The right help
For that reason, go first to a support group and, if this doesn't work, quickly to a professional with specific training in breastfeeding, doctor or certified lactation consultant, is an option that all mothers should know as feasible.
Painful lactations have a solution In a large majority of cases and relief can be much faster than we think. Therefore, if the mother wishes to breastfeed, going to a trained and prepared person can help her to breastfeed.
Defending breastfeeding cannot become a sectarian or utopian defense, but a commitment to mothers and babies, to help them find satisfactory solutions that allow them to give the best food to children. And never, never, should serve to judge who decides to stop breastfeeding or make him feel bad, because the circumstances of each mother are different. Information and support are the basis of a true defense and promotion of breastfeeding.
I will try, in this post and the following ones that are precise, to do a review of the possible causes of breastfeeding pain, hoping that they will serve as the first guide for women who suffer from it.
Bad posture
For many reasons a baby can have bad posture when clinging to the chest. The possibilities increase if breastfeeding has not started in the first hour or if, above all, bottles or pacifiers have been offered to the newborn. Premature babies are also more susceptible to poor posture. But sometimes the causes are physiological problems or simply a bad learning. And bad position is the most common cause of pain.
Yes there are a bad posture lesions may appear quickly on the nipple, the dreaded cracks, which can also become infected. The cracks, by themselves, are not a medical reason to stop breastfeeding, but without the slightest doubt, they need to be cured.
To prevent its appearance, we must ensure that we have a good posture, by consulting an advisor if we are not treated well in this regard at the hospital or in the health center. To know if the posture is correct, a look is not enough, it is better for the person who advises us to see the whole blowjob and observe the inside of the child's oral cavity, to rule out frenulum, since some of its presentations are not evident for those who do not Be specialized in its detection.
For the purpose of avoid cracks It is better not to use bottles, or teat cups, or irritating creams, or pacifiers. It is necessary to leave the chest to the air, but it is not necessary to wash it before or after the taking, but to put a few drops of milk and to let it dry. We must avoid covering the wet nipple, because the moisture macerates the meat and leaves it softer and susceptible to injuries and infections.
Using milk in the nipple may be contraindicated if there is infection in the breast, which we can recognize with the explanations I will give later.
Although it seems counterproductive it is better to increase the frequency of the shots, the breast will be less tense and the baby and the mother will thus have the opportunity to mate earlier.
In the next topic we will see how to cure cracks and other problems for which Breastfeeding can hurt.
In Babies and more | Breastfeeding despite cracks, frenulum and a bacterial infection, How to prevent and cure nipple cracks, Medical reasons not to breastfeed (II), Four basic postures to breastfeed the baby (video), When the baby rejects the breast ( I), Is bad breastfeeding worse than good artificial breastfeeding? Medical reasons for not breastfeeding (I)
