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So that there is no stagnation in the chest. Signs of lactostasis during breastfeeding and its treatment. Preventive measures to prevent the disease

Stagnation of milk in the mammary gland occurs in many women who are breastfeeding, it is also called lactostasis, what should I do if it appears? To answer this question, you need to know the causes of this unpleasant phenomenon. And only then talk about how to remove stagnation from a nursing mother and try to prevent its relapse again.

So, lactostasis is milk that is retained in any duct of the mammary gland. As a result of this, the duct expands, and a local inflammatory process may occur there. As a result, the temperature and pain in a woman. If the symptoms of lactostasis in a nursing mother are not eliminated within a couple of days, then medical care cannot be dispensed with, since its complication will most likely arise - mastitis. Its first symptom is reddening of the breast over lactostasis. And then you have to be treated with antibiotics.

What are the causes of milk stagnation in a nursing mother, what can provoke lactostasis?

1. Long intervals between feedings of the child. Don't feed your baby! These are outdated recommendations that lead to stagnation of milk in the mother. Do not forget that breast milk is not only food for the baby, but also a drink. Particularly relevant is frequent breastfeeding in the summer, when the baby, like any other living being, is often thirsty.
If you feed your baby frequently, your breasts will be emptied most of the time. It's very comfortable. And not only in terms of well-being, but also the absence of milk leaks outside of feeding.

2. Insufficient suction of milk by the baby. This is often seen in weak, premature babies and babies born with low body weight. Usually everything returns to normal after 1-1.5 months, when the baby becomes more active - it sucks better. In the meantime, this has not happened, you can, if necessary, if you feel breast engorgement, and there is no way for the baby to feed, express with the help of hands or a breast pump until relief.

3. Incorrect attachment, use of one position during feedings. Often, women, especially nulliparous, put the baby to the breast incorrectly. That is, it captures only the nipple. A should capture the nipple along with the areola. In this case, the milk flows well, and it is not painful for a woman to feed. This is the best recommendation on the topic - what to do if the chest hurts while feeding. The child sucks out little milk, as a result of this lack of weight, and the mother has lactostasis.
In addition, breastfeeding consultants advise changing positions when feeding. For example, to feed not only while sitting, holding the baby in the “cradle” position, but also lying down (this is especially true at night), or in a position from under the arm, when the baby’s head is in the mother’s armpit. It often happens that pumping with lactostasis does not help, the same position immediately brings relief, since as a result of it the farthest corners of the mammary gland are emptied.

4. Frequent feeding with one breast. If a child does not take one of the breasts well, this is not a reason to refuse partially or completely from feeding it. Do not forget that for this reason milk stagnation may occur. Expressing it constantly and bottle feeding the baby is also not the best way out of the situation, since the baby may completely refuse to suck on the second breast.
It is better to take measures so that the baby begins to suck well at the problem breast. Perhaps there is not enough milk in it? Usually this is felt by the absence of tides, leaks in it, in size, in comparison with the second. Then you need to offer it to the child more often, and everything will work out and even out. Even children often refuse to suck on one of the breasts simply because mothers hold them inconveniently when feeding from this side. Then the previously given recommendation that it is desirable to try and practice different postures when feeding becomes especially relevant.

5. Tight bra, small size. Buy a special nursing bra that has no underwire. Moreover, it is advisable to do this not before childbirth, but after discharge from the hospital, when it becomes clear what size is needed. After all, when breastfeeding in women, breasts increase by 1-2 sizes. You need to choose a comfortable bra.
When feeding in a tight bra, the mammary glands are pinched and not sufficiently emptied even if the baby is properly attached and actively sucked.

6. Pumping after feeding. As a result, the mother produces much more milk than the baby needs. Imagine such a situation. The mother fed the baby on the right breast. Then she expressed the rest of the milk. The next feeding is in about 3 hours. And she gives the left breast, while the right one is already full. And the turn will reach the right breast in another 3 hours. In total, you get a gap in feeding with the right breast of 6 hours. It is quite enough to form lactostasis. Stop pumping after feeding your baby! If you think that milk is not enough, just feed him more often. Every time he starts making sucking movements with his lips. At this point, offer him not a bottle of water or a pacifier, but a breast. And if the child, for example, is sleeping, but you feel the fullness of the mammary gland, express milk, but only a little, until you feel relieved.
According to statistics, it is precisely those women who often express their breasts that suffer from lactostasis more often. And especially after feeding.

And how to drain the stagnation of milk at home, if no matter what the problem still arose? Follow a few rules.

1. Feed your child with sick breasts more often, not forgetting healthy breasts.

2. Try to feed your baby in the arm position.

3. Do not express milk after feeding. Try to express lactostasis before feeding, before that by making a warm compress on the chest or holding it under a stream of warm water.

4. While feeding the baby, gently try to massage the breast in the area of ​​lactostasis, try to move the milk from the sore spot to the nipple.

And what to do if, with lactostasis, a nursing mother has a temperature of 40 C, how to bring down the heat? You can use drugs containing paracetamol or ibuprofen. They have both antipyretic and analgesic properties. In breast milk get in minimal quantities. It is only important to comply with the maximum dosage recommended by the manufacturer.
After the stagnation of milk disappears, and the temperature returns to normal, and the pain will completely go away.

Every nursing mother knows that there is such an unpleasant phenomenon as breast lactostasis. It must be avoided and, if possible, avoided. But is lactostasis so terrible and what is it in general?

Laktostasis - stagnation of milk in the breast of a nursing woman.

This is literally what it is: with lactostasis, the movement of milk through the ducts is disrupted and the so-called "milk plug" is formed.

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Causes and symptoms of lactostasis

Perhaps, lactostasis has not bypassed any nursing mother, however, someone is faced with stagnation of milk every month, and someone once in the entire experience of breastfeeding. The most popular causes of lactostasis can be distinguished:

  • Rare change in body position. For example, a mother can feed her baby in one position for a long time or constantly sleep on one side. At the same time, some lobes of the mammary gland may be pinched and not emptied in a timely manner;
  • Squeezing the ducts with underwear. Many mothers, especially at the stage of lactation, when milk flows out of the breast during hot flashes, constantly wear a bra, including not taking it off at night. In underwear, some milk ducts can be pinched, which causes difficulty in the movement of milk in them;
  • Stress and accumulated fatigue can also affect the condition of the ducts of the mammary glands. The ducts spasm and the outflow of milk in this place is disturbed;
  • The cause of lactostasis may be an increase in the viscosity of milk. This occurs after eating certain foods (such as nuts), or from not drinking enough fluids (especially in the heat);
  • You can provoke stagnation of milk by constant pumping. Some mothers seeking to establish natural feeding are confused by the recommendations of grandmothers, and sometimes pediatricians, that it is necessary to pump the breast completely after each application. Since milk is produced in response to sucking, or, in other words, in response to the emptying of the breast, pumping additional volume is regarded by the body as a signal for additional milk demand. As a result, by the next feeding, there is already much more milk: the volume sucked by the baby is replenished, and on top - the volume of expressed milk. The child cannot cope with this huge amount, the chest overflows. Mom, in an attempt to correct the situation, pumps again and falls into a vicious circle with constantly overfilled breasts and stagnation of milk;
  • Sometimes milk stasis occurs as a reaction to a change in the weather. It's hard to explain, but breastfeeding consultants have noted a spike in lactose intolerance cases during these periods.

Video: reasons. symptoms, remedies, prevention of lactostasis

Symptoms are not difficult to recognize:

  • Localized swelling of the mammary gland, inside which you can feel the seal;
  • Soreness of the site of blockage of the ducts;
  • Redness of the chest in the place where the stagnation occurred;
  • Temperature rise. If the temperature on the thermometer approaches 39, this is a dangerous sign that may indicate the onset of purulent-inflammatory processes in the chest. At this temperature, you definitely need to see a doctor.

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Causes, signs, what to do and what is important to remember about lactostasis for a nursing mother

Treatment

With the treatment of lactostasis, (if this process has not yet reached a critical point), any mother can handle it on her own at home. All actions with this problem are designed to restore the movement of milk in the clogged duct - that is, it is simply necessary to drain the stagnation.

Pumping

The best assistant in decanting the breast is the baby himself. The child should be applied as often as possible to the sore chest, including at night (). Most often, this is where the treatment ends. However, if suckling is very painful for the mother, first you need to alleviate her condition by manually expressing some milk:

  • With the help of heat, you need to improve the outflow of milk. You can apply a warm compress (for example, a towel soaked in hot water), take a bath or stand in the shower for 10 minutes, directing water to the chest area;
  • With very careful movements, massage the chest in the place of stagnation. You can use massage oil or cream;
  • We express a little milk only until the condition is relieved and the pain is relieved;
  • At the end, we remove tissue swelling with a cold compress applied to the chest for 5-10 minutes.

After manual pumping, be sure to attach the baby to the breast so that he suckles to finish the job. This sequence of actions can be done 2-3 times a day.

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Video: how to express breasts with lactostasis

Compresses

You can relieve the pain of lactostasis with the help of compresses or ointments. The most effective are compresses from very affordable products:

  • Cold cabbage compress. The leaf needs to be beaten off a little so that the juice goes, and attach to the place of compaction in the chest;
  • Honey compress. Honey is mixed with flour to the consistency of a tight dough, a cake is formed from this mass and applied to the chest;
  • Compress from cold low-fat cottage cheese.

Any of these compresses with lactostasis is applied to the chest for 15-20 minutes.

Video: how to treat lactostasis with folk methods at home

Ointments

Of the medicines, the Traumeel C cream, the Arnica ointment, and the Malavit solution help well. It is better for a nursing mother to always have any of these products in the first aid kit.

Remember!

If massage, pumping and compresses help solve the problem, then some actions can only aggravate it. Mom does not just need to warm her breasts, not before pumping, or smear with warming ointments, alcohol. Camphor-based ointments are strictly prohibited - even when applied externally, this component can greatly inhibit lactation.

Whether to feed with lactostasis

The answer is unequivocal - yes. With any barely noticeable signs of stagnation of milk, the mother should often apply the baby to the "diseased" breast. No amount of pumping, even after a massage, can deal with breast emptying like a baby.

In order for the baby to effectively resolve the stagnation, it can be applied to the chest in different positions, based on which part of the mammary gland formed "milk cork". There is such a rule: in which part of the breast the chin of the suckling child rests, from that part he best sucks milk. Based on this rule, you can choose one in which the baby will actively suck "problematic" shares.

Prevention of lactostasis

The best prevention of lactostasis is properly established breastfeeding. The rules are very simple:

  1. Periodically change your feeding position (link to various poses above).
  2. Don't wear tight "past life" bras. Many mothers after childbirth, for aesthetic reasons, continue to wear the same underwear that they wore before. However, the breast size of a nursing mother usually increases, in addition, ordinary underwear has hard seams and bones. When feeding, it is better to wear special bras. As a rule, they have a soft cup, no bones, they gently support the chest without constraining it.
  3. Do not deny yourself rest. Household chores can be postponed for later, because overwork is an important factor in the occurrence of many health problems.
  4. Stick to those recommended by a nursing mother and drink enough fluids.

The occurrence of lactostasis is a common “working” situation for a nursing mother. You should not be afraid of this, because timely actions help to solve the problem that has arisen quickly enough. What is really worth focusing on is your own feelings. With any hint of induration and pain, it is worth considering restorative measures, then there is practically no chance of serious problems.

When to See a Doctor

Basically, all mothers successfully cope with the elimination of lactostasis on their own, but you need to be on the alert, and in some cases be sure to consult a doctor:

  1. If the high temperature does not drop for more than 2 days.
  2. If in a few days the seal in the chest does not decrease.

Many mothers with lactostasis have a lot of questions and panic begins: “What should I do if milk stagnation occurs? What to do?". In this article, we will talk about the causes of this problem and methods of treatment, as well as ongoing prevention in order to avoid stagnation in the future.

Causes of lactostasis

Before starting treatment, it is necessary to understand the causes. Milk stasis can occur if:

  1. Insufficiently frequent change of body position. Many mothers do not change position while feeding the baby and fall asleep on one side.
  2. Compression of the chest with tight underwear. Pretty common factor. Many women wear tight and uncomfortable bras during active breastfeeding to reduce breast volume. A tight bra can interfere with milk flow and cause milk stasis.
  3. Irregular breastfeeding or feeding, accompanied by large time intervals.
  4. Depression and chronic fatigue. They can also affect movement in the thoracic ducts. Inadequate sleep, overwork negatively affect not only the movement of milk, but also the entire functioning of the body.
  5. Heavy physical activity. Caring for a child in the first years of life is not easy, even very difficult. Constant physical activity for a fragile body has a detrimental effect on the functioning of the mammary glands.
  6. Changeable weather. Many experts argue that with constant changes in weather conditions, lactostasis is possible. By percentage, it is during this period that the number of stagnation in young mothers increases.

Symptoms of lactostasis

Symptoms include:

  1. Thickening of breast tissue.
  2. Heaviness, distension in the chest.
  3. Constant pain that increases when pumping or feeding the baby.
  4. Redness of the skin, or vice versa, it acquires a paler shade.
  5. Slight fever and feeling unwell.

Stagnant milk. What to do?

Do not immediately panic and worry. You should try massage and pumping. Of course, it is best if this procedure is done by a specialist. But it is worth trying first for a woman to massage herself. So, how to act if the stagnation of milk in the chest? What to do? You need to do the following:

  1. Take a warm shower and prepare a mask, a cold compress for the chest. With their help, the mammary glands will expand, and the woman will be able to remove milk. Warm compresses or warming the body with a heating pad are strictly prohibited.
  2. Get a massage. Kneading movements need to activate the mammary glands. A description of the actions during the massage will be presented later. All manipulations and movements should not bring pain, tangible discomfort.
  3. Express milk either with your hands or with special tools.
  4. To eliminate the swelling that has arisen, it is necessary to apply a cool compress. It will help relieve pain.

cabbage leaves

If there is stagnation of milk in a nursing mother, what should I do? Folk remedies can help in solving this problem. Our grandmothers also used them. Therefore, such methods can be called proven and quite effective. So, when a young mother has milk stasis while breastfeeding, what if medications do not help? It's time to use folk methods. For example, pay attention to cabbage leaves.

The tool has been tested for years. Ordinary white cabbage will do. Remove 2 large leaves from the head. They should be washed thoroughly. Then make 2-3 cuts evenly over the leaves (on each). After attaching them to the breasts. After 2-3 hours, the sheets must be removed and new ones put in. In the absence of allergies to honey, you can use it as an addition to the compress.

Decoction and tea from chamomile

This plant has been actively used for several years both in traditional medicine and in cosmetic preparations. It is necessary to boil the chamomile well and drink tea with it or wash the affected areas with a decoction.

baked onion

If there is stagnation of milk in a nursing mother, what should I do? It’s not even worth talking about the beneficial properties of onions, because their list is really huge. You will need a medium sized bulb. It must be cleaned and baked in the oven for several minutes. Apply to the chest in a warm and cut form and remove after 1-2 hours. When repeating the procedure, the bulb must be changed.

Weak infusion of sage

Pour 2 tsp into any container. chopped sage, pour boiled water. After 1-2 hours, drain the water and strain. Drink half a glass before meals. 1 glass must be stretched for 1 day.

Flax seed infusion

A glass of water needs to be slightly warmed up and pour flax seeds into it. Leave to infuse for 3-5 hours. After preparing the infusion, it must be filtered and applied to the chest with the help of some cloth soaked in the solution. After 30-60 minutes, rinse the body. You can also wash the affected areas with infusion while taking a shower.

Compress with beets and honey

If milk stagnation, what to do? One of the best remedies will be a compress based on honey and beets. It quickly accelerates the blood, helps to relieve swelling and pain, as well as the activation of the milk ducts. Small beets must be boiled, cooled and passed through a grater. After that, in a separate container, mix with 2 tbsp. The resulting mixture must be applied to the chest, covered with a cut bag or cling film. Can be tied with woolen cloth. After 3-5 hours, remove the compress and wash well.

Honey egg dough

If there is constant pain and stagnation of breast milk, what should I do? Honey-egg dough will help to cope with these problems and relieve puffiness. In any container you need to combine 2 chicken yolks, 2 tbsp. l. honey, add any oil (optional) and 2 handfuls of flour. The mixture must be mixed and formed into small cakes. The compress should be covered with some kind of cloth or cling film, left overnight. For the best effect, experts advise repeating the procedure daily.

A mixture of honey and sunflower oil

If a nursing stagnation of milk, what to do at home? The following remedy based on a bee product will help. You need to take honey and sunflower oil in the same ratio. Stir the resulting mixture and heat well on the stove (in the microwave), but to a comfortable temperature (so as not to burn yourself). After cooking, add a spoonful of alcohol to the mixture and apply to sore breasts through gauze. The procedure is recommended to be done at night.

Camphor oil

In oil, you need to moisten a gauze napkin and attach to the chest. Cover with cling film on top, tie with a scarf. Leave the bandage on for the rest of the night and rinse the chest with water in the morning.

Prevention

For prevention, you can do the following procedures:

  1. A decoction of eucalyptus. This remedy is used in prevention to avoid lactostasis in the future. 15 eucalyptus leaves must be boiled in water and insisted for 2-3 days. With the resulting infusion, it is necessary to treat the area near the nipple before each feeding of the baby.
  2. Anti-inflammatory compress. It is also used for prevention, but may have little effect in the treatment. Hop cones and walnut leaves must be crushed in a separate container in the same ratio. Pour 800-1000 ml of water and let it brew for 5-8 hours. You need to apply a compress in the same way as presented earlier: blot the fabric, attach it to the chest, cover it with cling film and some kind of cloth. Leave overnight.
  3. Honey bath. One of the most effective ways of prevention. Honey speeds up the healing process, improves the functioning of the mammary glands and well-being. It must be heated in a water bath to a liquid state, combined with flour in equal proportions and mixed. Apply the ointment to the affected chest and cover with a scarf. After 3-4 hours, wash the body with warm water.

Massage

How to do massage with stagnation of milk? Experts recommend that when the first symptoms appear, immediately start breast massage. It takes place in several stages:

  1. The milk ducts must be warmed up under a warm shower and washed well.
  2. Make several massaging movements, starting from the base of the breast and smoothly going to the nipple.
  3. You need to feel the seal with your fingers or immediately attach them to the affected area. Then massage it until it becomes softer. That is, until the ducts are completely cleared.

If milk stagnation is observed, what to do besides massage? Many experts recommend trying the following:

  1. Stop feeding your baby with a pacifier.
  2. Constantly express excess milk with a breast pump or manually.
  3. Try to endure the pain and apply the baby more often to the painful gland.
  4. Wear special underwear or really comfortable and comfortable.
  5. Perform massage or apply infusions before feeding the baby or pumping.
  6. Observe the regimen of eating food and drinking water. Normalize metabolism and energy distribution.
  7. More and more rest. Try to catch at least a minute for sleep.
  8. Sleep on your side, not on your stomach or back.
  9. Do not massage the chest with pressing, sharp movements.

Finally

Milk stasis is a common, common problem that can be solved by any means. Therefore, do not be upset, but it is best to start decanting, massage and other procedures.