help, neighbor has mastitis

[mommyto3girls]

My neighbor, whom i am so proud of, has mastitis. She never bf her first, but has been doing great with her new baby. Brynn is 7 weeks old.

Today Shelby went to the OB because she had a plugged duct and flu like symptoms. OB said it was a plugged duct and runned down mommy flu!! Shelby asked about mastitis a few times and was told it couldn't be because she didn't have a fever.

I talked to her on my way home from work and told her she needed to call back. She had red streaks going from her breast almost to the base of her neck. This time she got the mw who instantly called in antibiotics. Other than positioning Brynn's chin towards the plug, hot baths or showers and pumping (brynn is starting to refuse that breast because the milk won't let down) is there anything she can do to help it along?

[rachellanigh]

I would have your neighbor check to see if there is a breastfeeding supply store nearby her home. I have one here in AZ and when I had an infection I went there and they actually let me use their pump to help drain the breast and I had a sacral-lymphatic massage which unblocked it as well. It really was great and I would recommend it to anyone. This is so painful, tell her to hang in there.

[kozmickreations05]

Sounds like mastitis to me, is her breast REALLY sore like someone used it as a punching bag? Make sure shes not sleeping on her breast, or using a sling that is flattening her breast. The slightest bit of unwanted pressure on a breast can cause mastitis. Maybe her bra is too tight, thick breats pad or sheild, When I had mastitis (luckily ds was 12 mos) I placed my sore breast in a bowl of warm water and massaged it FREQUENTLY ( yeah, its not comfortable, BUT with doing that and taking the antibiotics (which gave me a killer yeast infection ) seemed to help a ton! PLUS, i kept up with the constant nursing even though it was painful. I wish your friend all the luck

[Momtwice]

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/mastitis.html

[MAMom]

I had mastitis for the first time with my second babe. About the same time as your friend I think when baby was 6 or 7 weeks.

Above all, tell her to REALLY rest and stay in bed. Camp out with the baby in bed and have a nurse-fest, and stay bra-less. I used a hot-water bottle filled with boiling water from the tea kettle (you're not supposed to use water that hot in it, but it had worked for a firend who recommended it to me, and it worked for me too.)

I did pump a little to drain my breast as needed, but not too much b/c I didn't want to stimulate more milk production. I massaged the ducts that were clogged often.

It could be several days or a week before she is really feeling better. I tried to fight it w/o antibiotics for a few days, but when the fever crept up I decided to go for the abx. Suggest that she takes probiotics while on the abx and after, since the abx can be really hard on the baby's system.

Tell her to hang in there!
___________________________________
SAHM to a spectacular DS (5/2003) & delightful DD (2/2006 HBAC!)
“Unlike all other important jobs, parenting is the one job for which we get no formal preparation, education or training.” ~ Pam Leo

[Rigama]

I had very frequent Mastitis. You might have her talk to her midwife/dr about this, but my dr (who was very crunchy and into homeopathy) put me on Phytolacca and Belladonna. (The little brown jars of the round balls you disolve under your tongue). She also had me on Cammomilla just to help me relax a bit. Agian in the brown jars. One was for fever and one was for inflamation.

When she first gave me the list of stuff, I was pretty darn mainstream and thought that homeopathy offered a placibo type relief. This stuff changed my world! I was frequently able to avoid antibiotics if I took them at the very first symptom. If I didn't catch the symptoms right away, I took them as soon as I could and I swear it shortened my recovery time.

[cfiddlinmama]

Swedish Bitters compresses work great too. So does eating tons of garlic and resting and nursing all the time.