Breastfeeding After Reduction Surgery - One Mother's Success Story

Posted by Stacey Stewart on September 1st, 2019

When I got my reduction I knew I would unlikely be able to breastfeed but I was okay with that. It wasn't until I was pregnant with my first baby, my sister (a labor and delivery nurse) told me about a book- Defining Your Own Success.

It was about a woman who breastfed after a reduction and several other success stories. That was the first time I thought that I might possibly be able to BF. I was determined to try with little expectations. I think this helped me a lot as I didn't set myself up for failure.

I had a great lactation consultant in the hospital who was very supportive and they got me pumping right away. I was very successful with the pump and was pumping a ton.

I can't imagine what my supply would've looked like without the reduction because I had no problem pumping and nursing. We weren't 100% successful because Evelyn was so sleepy and would constantly fall asleep feeding. She gained very slowly. Luckily, I also had an amazing pediatrician who was so supportive and totally fine with Evelyn gaining slowly, as long as she was gaining.

So we continued on.

At about a month, I started a bottle because she would suckle a bottle down asleep but she was still a very lazy eater. So I continued to pump after most feedings. She was 100% breastfed until probably 4-5 months. Once I returned to work I probably supplemented with formula about 50%. I pumped until 9 months and then let her nurse until I dried up at about 10-11 months.

Fast forward to second baby--they say that with each baby, your chances of breastfeeding are greater as more tissues heal, etc.  I had even lower expectations because of some of the feeding issues with Evelyn and the fact that I had a toddler at home and knew I wouldn't be able to pump as often.

But, Elliot was so much better. I exclusively breastfed for one year!! I did pump 4x day at first and dropped down to morning/night. She nursed so well.

Pumping is really necessary for woman with reductions. Because we don't have all the ducts working we need to stimulate as much as possible and ensure the breasts are getting drained, and to try and boost what supply you have.

I have had natural childbirths as I read that medications can affect those initial nursing sessions and it was vital that I nursed right away. I also did skin to skin and nursed as soon as possible after birth. Some woman use natural medicines that can help with healing, boost supply or thin the milk to make it flow better, but I didn't.

Another thing a lot of woman use is a SNS system. It's basically a thin tube (connected to bottle of milk) that you place in baby's mouth as it nurses and the milk drips in. It allows the baby to continue to nurse and get milk while stimulating your breasts. I couldn't deal with it.

There's a Facebook page that I found invaluable and wish I'd found it earlier (Breastfeeding after reduction (BFAR).

I think the biggest thing that contributed to my success was setting low expectations so not to get so upset if it didn't work. Breastfeeding is hard enough for most woman, let alone having supply issues. I think it's important for woman to remember that nursing can have other benefits to baby (soothing, sleep), etc. and that any amount of BM is good. I was okay supplying 50% of her needs, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. It was definitely very hard the first time. I was so much more relaxed second time around and I think that also helped.