2-day old baby, breasts engorged and no milk coming out

[mamalissy]

My friend just had a baby two days ago. She has been breastfeeding, or trying to, and she is terribly engorged, her breasts are hugely swollen. She is in unbearable agony and no milk is coming out. I don’t know all the specific details, but she went in to radiology to see if there were blocked ducts and they found nothing. She has tried pumping but no milk will come out. She is in the hospital and they have given her the medicine to dry up her milk. The doctors have no idea what is wrong. I wish I could do something to help her, so I figured I would ask here If anyone has any ideas, please share. Thanks.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Have they weighed the baby before and after a nice long feeding? Many women are not able to express or pump milk, but their babe is more than able to get milk out.

Engorgement can be quite painful, but I would be very wary of trying to dry the milk up when the body is trying to figure out how much milk to make a day for the baby. I would just recommend that she keep nursing as often as the baby would like to nurse, take something for the pain, and know that the engorgement isn't permanent and will pass.

[IndigoKoi]

has she seen a lactation consultant?? I would most definitely direct her to an LC, ASAP! Tell her to hold of on the drugs if possible, and find a local LC if they don't have them at the hospital she delivered at.
I also agree with PP, that baby is MUCH more able to get milk to come out of breast than pump. I had no problem with milk coming out, but the first time I pumped it took me 35 mins to get a let down. Perhaps that's what the problem is, maybe baby is having trouble latching properly to get proper suction to initiate let down? If she does a breast compression can she express milk with her hand? Check out this site for some instructions on how to properly hand express http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t024900.asp

Check out La Leche League to help locate an LC.
http://www.llli.org/

I really hope your friend get some relief from her engorgement and is able to BF her little one!

[Bokonon]

I agree, she needs to see an IBCLC as soon as possible.

Has she been trying to breastfeed? What happens when she does so?

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by mamalissy

My friend just had a baby two days ago. She has been breastfeeding, or trying to, and she is terribly engorged, her breasts are hugely swollen. She is in unbearable agony and no milk is coming out. I don’t know all the specific details, but she went in to radiology to see if there were blocked ducts and they found nothing. She has tried pumping but no milk will come out. She is in the hospital and they have given her the medicine to dry up her milk. The doctors have no idea what is wrong. I wish I could do something to help her, so I figured I would ask here If anyone has any ideas, please share. Thanks.

?? where does she live? this is very unusual - are we missing some of the story?

nak

[ElliesMomma]

NO milk coming out of EITHER breast? is the baby now getting formula in a bottle?
at 2 days PP that sounds like an awesome supply to be already engorged. baby should be exclusively breastfed, and breastfed **often** (like, constantly). mom should see a regular sucking pattern and hear swallowing noises. baby should go from looking and acting hungry, to looking content and sleepy after feeding. as others have noted, baby should be regularly weighed to check for gain.

[mamalissy]

1

[pumpkinhead]

Did the LC tell her to do reverse pressure softening? Did no one suggest cabbage leaves to her? It's pretty odd for her to be that engorged at only 2 days PP. What about cold compresses?

Where are you located? Medication to dry up breast milk is no longer used because it has serious side effects (like strokes and high blood pressure) and didn't always work. Unless the medication is something like sudafed or ibuprophen, I can't imagine any good doctor perscribing it.

It sounds like she could possibly have had/or has mastitis. Has she had a breast reduction in the past? A friend of mine had this. Many of the milk ducts had been severed from the nipple and while her body was producing milk, there was no way for it to get out and it was very painful for her. Even still, she was not given medication to dry up her milk.

[MamaPhD]

I didn't get ANYTHING out of my breasts (colostrum or milk) until day 5 after DD was born. I was really engorged and tried to pump and feed every 1-2 hours for those 5 days and it was TOUGH, but it did come - yay! At first, the engorgement is from increased blood supply and fluids going into the breasts, not from milk, so I doubt that it is blocked duct or anything like that. Just keep trying is what I would say! We nursed happily for 18 months after those tough 5 days!!!!

[pumpkinhead]

Pumping can actually be counter productive for engorgement because it draw more milk down into the ducts in the breast. That's why reverse pressure softening can be so important. It forces the milk back up into the higher ducts and softens the breast tissue.