Breastfeeding: Best for baby. Best for mom.
Share Your Story
Home > Breastfeeding Home > Finding Support and Information > Share Your Story > Help: No Relief From Pain – Special Post From womenshealth.gov
Breastfeeding can be both rewarding and challenging at the same time. Have you overcome a problem so that you could keep breastfeeding? Share your success story on womenshealth.gov!
If you need help solving a breastfeeding problem, please use our Contact Us form or call us at 1-800-994-9662 or TDD: 1-800-220-5446. Please do not post breastfeeding questions on the Share Your Story page.
Help: No Relief From Pain – Special Post From womenshealth.gov
By
Anonymous
from New Jersey
I have a lump in my breast that has been painful for almost two months. I also keep getting clogged ducts. My OB/GYN wouldn't see me after I gave birth; the nurses in the practice handle patients after childbirth. I called about a clogged duct and the nurse told me to nurse and apply heat. My blocked duct cleared but the lump on the side of my breast won't heal. I called back two weeks later in pain and the nurse was annoyed with me calling back. She told me she had "more important calls to take and that she already told me what to do." The nurse recommended a breast specialist/doctor that doesn't take insurance and costs $350 a session. Then I saw a lactation consultant in Hoboken and it cost $140 per session. She spent most of the time trying to sell me baby carriers and nursing pillows. She didn't examine my breast or offer to help with my latch. She taught me to lean way back in a glider to nurse so I could rest better while I nursed. Horrible advice! I didn't clear the breast working against gravity leaning back and developed another blocked duct. The pain continued for another week and I got another clogged duct so I went to a different clinic. The doctor said my five-week-old baby looked chubby and I was feeding her too much. She told me to stop breastfeeding for a week and pump all of her feedings. She also sent me for an ultrasound. I kept breastfeeding. I was scared the duct wouldn't clear. The ultrasound didn't show a cyst so the doctor said there is nothing they can do. They told me to ignore the block ducts and that they will go away on their own. I was also told maybe my problem isn't the pain from the lump but postpartum depression. The doctor said my lump didn't look that painful and he couldn't feel it, so he didn't understand why I would be so upset. At 8 weeks post-birth I went back to my original doctor's office. I complained about the lump and another nurse gave me Yaz to reduce my milk supply. She said it would help with the blocked ducts and won't hurt the baby. My milk supply in that breast has significantly decreased. My doctor said there is nothing they can do. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.
Reply from womenshealth.gov
We are truly sorry to hear about the experiences you have had with your health care providers. If your doctor or nurse is not following up on your care, we suggest that you be persistent with them and also seek another doctor's opinion about your concerns.
We understand you are very concerned about the frequent clogged ducts you are getting, but it is also important that your doctor is not missing other breast problems. You mentioned several times that you were in a lot of pain and the lump still remains in your breast. At this point we suggest consulting with a specialist (breast surgeon) to see if there is something more going on with your breast, besides a clogged duct.
Since you are experiencing frequent clogged ducts, it may be that you are not emptying your breast when you are breastfeeding your baby or you might be waiting too long to breastfeed in between feedings. If this is happening, it will cause the ducts to clog more frequently. At 2 to 3 months your baby should be nursing every 2 to 3 hours from both breasts. If your baby is not, you might want to consider pumping the other breast that your baby is not nursing from to get the milk out. Clogged ducts can be very painful if they are not treated properly. They can also cause headaches, fatigue, and fever. Some moms have said it feels like they have the flu. At any time, if you get a fever with a clogged duct we encourage you to see your doctor for treatment.
We would like to direct your attention to our breastfeeding information on our Web site at http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding. More support is also available via our help-line at 1-800-994-9662. We have trained breastfeeding peer counselors available to talk with you in both English and Spanish.
We hope the information we have provided you will be helpful. We encourage you to contact www.womenshealth.gov using our Contact Us form if you have additional health concerns or need information.
Content last updated October 26, 2009.
|
You may need to download a free PDF reader to view files marked with this icon.
