Difficulties in Breastfeeding
Author – Mohona Sengupta Editor – James Mackintosh
Last updated 10/10/23
Table of Contents
Introduction
Breastfeeding is often regarded as vital component of baby and maternal bonding, yet many new mothers may face challenges in establishing breastfeeding due to various reasons. As healthcare professionals, it is imperative to understand the underlying causes of breastfeeding difficulties, employ effective assessment techniques, and provide comprehensive management strategies to support both mother and child.
Reasons for breastfeeding issues
Latch Issues: Improper latch is one of the most common reasons for breastfeeding difficulties. This may result from factors such as tongue-tie, palate abnormalities, or positional problems.
2. Insufficient Milk Supply: Some mothers may experience challenges in producing an adequate milk supply due to use of certain medications, lack of sleep, alcohol use or recent breast surgery.
3. Engorgement and Mastitis: Painful engorgement or infections like mastitis can make breastfeeding uncomfortable or even painful for the mother.
4. Nipple Pain or Damage: Sore, cracked, or bleeding nipples can deter mothers from continuing to breastfeed.
5. Medical Conditions in Mother or Infant: Certain medical conditions, such as hormonal imbalances or congenital issues in the infant, may hinder successful breastfeeding
Approach as a medical professional
As a healthcare professional, you are likely to encounter this problem in primary care. As a GP or doctor in foundation training, it is important to begin by obtaining a detailed history, including prenatal, birthing, and postnatal experiences. Alongside this, gathering a full past medical history, drug history and social history will ensure you are able to better understand the patient, who is the mother in this scenario.
Next, it is a good idea to examine the patient, focusing on the breasts and nipple conditions as well as the infant’s oral anatomy. If it is possible, observation of a feeding session would be very useful to evaluate latch, positioning and infant behaviour.
One of the main concerns with breastfeeding difficulties, is adequate growth and nutrition the infant. Therefore, at the appointment ensure baby’s height, weight and diaper output is recorded and plotted in the Red Book.
Management
Management will be guided by the underlying cause; however we will explain general management for new mothers experiencing non-pathological breastfeeding difficulties.
- Education and Support: Provide thorough education on breastfeeding techniques. This can be in the form of educational resources, helplines and signposting to midwives or health visitors who would be in a better position to assess and offer advice on techniques. If you feel that the mother may benefit from emotional encouragement, it would be appropriate to share resources on support groups if they need it.
- Addressing Latch and Positioning: Every new mother is offered health visits and a personal midwifery contact. They are available to offer goal-orientated breastfeeding advice and as they will likely meet you more often throughout your breastfeeding journey than doctors, they would be the best point of contact to offer practical demonstrations and gentle corrections to ensure correct technique.
- Monitoring Milk Supply: Implement a plan to monitor milk production, which may include regular weighing of the infant and assessing diaper output. As a safety net, scheduling a future appointment with mother and baby would be appropriate.
Conclusion
By understanding the potential causes of breastfeeding difficulties and employing a comprehensive assessment approach, healthcare professionals can play a pivotal role in supporting mothers and infants on their breastfeeding journey. Providing empathetic, individualized care and collaborating with relevant experts can make a significant difference in the success and satisfaction of breastfeeding experiences for both mother and child.