Engorgement

From: womanht
Date: 30 Apr 2001
Time: 14:44:12
Remote Name: sbproxy3.mystarhub.com.sg

Comments

On the 3rd or 4th day after delivery, my breasts were as hard as rock and hurt a lot. Baby had difficulty nursing too. My breasts were engorged as the milk was coming in. (The first few days the milk was mainly colostrum. Very rich in antibodies and nutrients but not much in quantity.)

For my first baby, I did not want to use anything that would reduce milk flow as I wanted to have as much as possible for my baby. So I even rejected the cabbage leaves that were offered to me. What I used before each feed was a basin, a towel and hot water. As hot as I could tolerate. I soaked the towel in the hot water and wrung it dry. Then I applied the hot towel on my breast, massage it in clockwise directions to soften it, before putting my baby to my breast. It helped.

At night, when I slept, I wore a tight, fitting bra, for support and to ease the pain. Panadol was the only pain killer I took then, only if the pain was unbearable. Even that, I tried to minimise as whatever drugs I take would go to my milk and to my new born baby.

For my second baby, the nurses offered my cold cabbage from the refrigerator. It helps reduce milk flow and soften the breast. In that way, it would relieve the discomfort. I put the cabbage leaves over my breasts under my bra for a few hours and it helped a lot. Not too long though as I don't want to reduce milk flow too much. 4 hours is just about right.