Mastitis
This is not medical advice
Mastitis is inflammation, which can lead to infection, and it is not a good time. I remember my first time having mastitis at 3 weeks postpartum. I felt like dying, which may sound overdramatic, but I was also recovering from birthing a baby. I didn’t have anything extra in me for fighting an infection!
I had let it get too far before doing something. It was my first time breastfeeding, and I didn’t know what things were supposed to feel like. I had a definite oversupply, so often my breasts were rock hard. I had seen so many things of women saying that breastfeeding can be painful, so I just ignored the sharp pain in my nipple. I thought maybe it was the 3 weeks of breastfeeding and my nipples were now starting to become raw. Then I felt sick and weak, and later came down with a fever.
I was weak, feverish, afraid to take medicine because I’m breastfeeding, barely able to hold my baby, and I made the journey into the doctors office. Only to be met with “Yep, you have mastitis. Sorry it hurts, go home and pump extra.” I cried when I got back into the car. My family was busy, I was alone taking care of my new baby. I was actually scared to walk with my baby in my arms for fear of falling from the weakness. I’m glad I had seen something online about not pumping extra with mastitis. My gut told me better, and the next day I went back in to see someone else. I got antibiotics and within a day I felt so much better. Then, a few weeks later I was at the doctor's again with my second round of mastitis! I got antibiotics again, and talked to the doctor this time about what to do next. I was soon going to leave the US and didn’t know how to manage this constant mastitis.
Now, I can’t remember how many times I’ve had mastitis. I got medicine for it 2 times, while I was still in the US. After moving back to Eastern Africa, I have self-treated it around 4 times. It became easier to notice it starting after the first time or two.
Postpartum is hard enough on it’s own, we don’t need another thing in the mix, so here’s what I can tell you from my experience with mastitis.
When it’s starting, it starts to feel like small needles in my nipple when my baby was sucking. I thought maybe my nipple just feels raw, it’s been 3 weeks of constant breastfeeding.
Rock hard breasts are not good. Normal for oversupply, maybe, but not good. I was afraid of pumping extra and confusing my supply, so I avoided it. Now, I recommend if you’re starting to feel engorged or your breasts are becoming too hard, but your baby is not ready to eat, remove just a little milk. Just enough to give yourself some relief.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic. While I took medication for the first two battles with mastitis, after that I began to notice it earlier. I would crush a clove of garlic (or two or three, depending on the size), and swallow it like a pill, once or twice a day. It may have given me some slight stomach discomfort at first, and I learned to eat some bread before swallowing it.
Sometimes, I even used cabbage leaves in my bra. While it is recommended 20 minutes and then remove it, I often left it in a little longer. The coolness also felt nice with the heat from the mastitis.
A fellow birth worker also told me that she heard redheads may be more prone to mastitis. I’d believe it! She was shocked I’d had it 5 times. She also told me that most women stop breastfeeding after the first time. I understand, and also feel sad for that realization.
Don’t pump extra. It goes against the physiology of breastmilk being supply and demand. If you have mastitis from oversupply, for example, and you try to “clear it out” by pumping more, you are signaling your body to make more milk, which is not the goal. Feed/pump on your regular schedule.
Anti-inflammatories helped me a lot! I’m not a huge fan of painkillers, but ibuprofen was my friend! Turmeric and cinnamon are also natural anti-inflammatories.
After the second time, I started taking sunflower lecithin. I didn’t take a huge dose (1200 mg/day), but it did really help me. Any time I felt what might be mastitis, I would just take an extra one for a few days.
Take probiotics if you have been given antibiotics! This one is big! Balance your antibiotics with probiotics (Try twice as long as the antibiotics, so if you have antibiotics for 5 days, take probiotics for 10 days). This can help against you and your baby contracting thrush, because you don’t want to add passing that back and forth into the mix!
MY FAVORITE LACTATION RESOURCES:
@themilknest - instagram
* she has a highlight on mastitis / clogged ducts
@thebreastfeedingmentor - instagram
* not an IBCLC but she has created an amazing community where women are just honest about breastfeeding
@loyallaction - instagram
YourTwoJugs — https://yourtwojugs.com/mastitis/
New Breastfeeding (Mastitis) Guidelines:
https://www.mother.ly/health-wellness/womens-health/abm-protocol-mastitis/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaawfDDIWG1Aa3XxMCHzeTXqlzXsAs9I5Qvd7J9bu5Xvc4BV-sT3vM5QOXQ_aem_bayitLveZccz4DQgKZkzuA