Surgery

babidius · #1 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 07:47 AM

I am having my gallbladder removed next week and have read conflicting things about BF after anesthesia. Kellymom and the LaLeche website said that anesthesia does not really transfer to BM or not much will. Has anyone given their Baby BM after Surgery?

Karah R · #2 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 02:00 PM

I did have surgery under general anesthesia twice while BFing DS.....both my OB and our local center for infant feeding said that absolutely, as soon as I was alert enough to breastfeed, it was okay to breastfeed. There tends to be a lot of misinformation out there about it, and sometimes because a doctor doesn't know, they'll tell a woman not to breastfeed after even though there is no good reason not to.

One thing I can say is that after my second surgery, probably in part because I was stressed about it (I was having an IUD that had punctured my uterus removed laparoscopically), my milk supply temporarily dropped down to almost nothing for the next week. I kind of panicked but trusted that I could get that supply back up-and within a week was back to where I'd been before. If this happens to you, don't be alarmed because you can rebuild back up if your milk supply has a wonky reaction to surgery. I used every supply building tip in the book like Fenugreek, oatmeal, etc., and tried to be really patient and relaxed with DS on the breast because it was taking twice as long for my milk to let down. But it did all come back just like it was.

ScorpiosThree · #3 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 06:39 PM

Like Karah said, there is a ton of misinformation about breastfeeding and medications out there and most doctors will err on the side of being super cautious. Most meds, when taken in theraputic doses, don't have a high enough concentration in breast milk to even show up in the infant's blood plasm.

Check out Dr. Hale's Breastfeeding and medications forum for the effects of meds on infants. Dr. Hale has done scientific reasearch into the quantitative and qualitative effects of meds on breastmilk and nurslings. My OB told me about this guy and I trust my OB. I take Vicoden every day for chronic pain and have NEVER noticed any effect on my sweet girl. When I ran out of it for a week she didn't change, so I'm 99.9% sure she's not getting enough to affect her in any way.

Good luck with the surgery!

Karah R · #4 (**permalink**) 06-20-2006, 07:34 PM

Ditto on that being a good link-the Dr. Hale forums.....I was thinking about adding that info too so great minds think alike.

That website's a great clearing house for GOOD and accurate information about specific meds and breastfeeding.

I also wanted to add that I had a c-section with my youngest child, breastfed him literally as soon as I was out of surgery and in the recovery area before going to my recovery room-maybe 40 minutes after his birth, and I had lots of meds in my system for the surgery. My pain level was quite high for several weeks after his birth and I was managing my pain with percocet and motrin 800's, and I continued to breastfeed with no supplements with no ill effects to Carter.

babidius · #5 (**permalink**) 06-21-2006, 04:45 AM

Thanks for the info. I contacted the lactation nurse at the hospital and she said to wait 24-48 hours. I will definitely check out that website!

amallicoat · #6 (**permalink**) 06-21-2006, 01:46 PM

I had my appendix out when dd was 6 mo and my dr and lc both said to dump the first feeding after you wake up and then you are fine. Make sure your anestesiologist knows that you are bfing and you should be fine. If s/he says you have to wait a longer time ask them to use meds that are safe. They should be able to do that. Most people just aren't sure so they err on the side of caution.