Feeding after delivery

norvelln · April 2011

I have a question about feeding after delivery. How necessary is it for baby to be fed as soon as he is born? My intent is to exclusively breastfeed until I return to work.

Situation: I am a c-section delivery. They will take baby and I will go to recovery. I will not be able to nurse immediately due to meds. With my last baby, it was 5 hours later and they had fed her immediately and continued to feed her for the 5 hour period from delivery to bringing her to me. Needless to say, it contributed to nipple confusion and frustration with breastfeeding. I was a first time Mom, 19 and scared to begin with so voicing my thoughts against an experienced nurse was not happening. Now I am 36 at delivery and a whole lot more vocal than I used to be!

I think baby can wait until I am out of recovery. Hubby (med professional with L&D experience) agrees.

Your input is appreciated.

LyndaCarter · April 2011

I think that you should make it very clear that they are not to give your baby anything because you are breastfeeding. I would think she needs to eat pretty quickly, but 4-5 hours should be do-able.

daisydana · April 2011

They brought my daughter to me to BF while I was still in recovery. Which was pretty scary because I was pretty out of it. They asked me if I wanted her, I said yes. As soon as I started trying to feed her, I started falling asleep. I had to call for the nurse to take her. You are going to have drugs in your system for a while (a week or more) so don't let that influence your decision. My only point, I guess, is that you could BF right away if you wanted to.

UsedToBeGoldie · April 2011

i was in my room with my twins within an hour after my c/s- and nursing them. They did just fine - even getting bottles after nursing... I'm not a believer in "having a bottle = nipple confusion"... i know plenty of moms who have nursed and supplimented with formula or pumped breastmilk in a bottle, too.

i ended up EPing after i got home (5 days later) b/c of logistics - not b/c they weren't nursing well... i just wasn't that into it and wanted others to be able to feed the babies.... but my c/s did not effect my ability to start nursing at all.

ridesbuttons · April 2011

You need to make it clear that the baby is not to be fed, only nursed by you at your breast.

Babies do not need to eat immediately. Most mothers take days for milk to come in. Most babies do just fine.

Your baby can absolutely manage a few hours before nursing.

Have your DH stay with your LO to ensure they follow your wishes.

livingitup · April 2011

I had a vaginal birth and don't recall brestfeeding very soon. It was 10 pm when she was born and then I slept in the labor room for 2 hours and then I moved to my room and slept until abou 4 or 5 am. I might have breast fed somewhere in there, but I do not recall. I don't think so. I do remember the nurse saying that DD was pretty hungry and they let me sleep as long as they could.

For my SIL's second, se gave strict intructions to be allowed to sleep and for the nurse to feed the baby if necessary. She had zero problems breast feeding.

I think some babies have trouble latching and some don't. I don't think it has anything to do with bottle feeding. At all.

stever · April 2011

I didn't have a c/s, but I did require surgery after delivery that kept me from nursing DS for several hours. We made it clear when we checked in that I was BFing and DH was with DS while they worked on me to make sure they didn't offer him formula.

When they brought me into my room, all loopy from anesthesia, DH brought DS from the nursery and I was fine nursing him.

JKohio · April 2011

I delivered my son via c/s almost 3 years ago when I was 38. They brought him to me to BF shortly after I was moved out of the OR but was not yet in my recovery room. I don't know what the step-down area is called, but I was BFing within an hour of giving birth. Sure, I was shaky and tired from the meds (and laboring before the c/s call was made), but with some help holding my baby, I was able to BF without any trouble. I don't know what meds you expect to be on, but I had an epidural turned way up (since it wasn't a planned c) and was conscious (but sleepy!) during the delivery.

When you fill out the initial paperwork, there should be somewhere to indicate that you intend to BF and no formula should be given. That was the case at the hospital where I was, anyway. I BFed my son successfully for 17 months.

Strunella · April 2011

As my son was brought to the NICU after delivery, he did not BF for quite a while. They didn't feed him anything and just told me when to come down to NICU to begin feeding him. FWIW, he did receive a few bottles of formula before he was discharged and it had no effect on him breastfeeding at home. Two LCs told me that they do not believe in nipple confusion. A baby can decide at any time that he is not going to take the breast or a bottle.

norvelln · April 2011

I do appreciate all of your input.

This is not my 1st c-section nor my 1st (hopefully full term) pregnancy. The 1st one was 16 years ago, so I am quite sure that things have changed significantly in almost 2 decades. I am glad to read that they have. The meds they had me on was the epi and then they shot morphine into a drip after they took my daughter. My c-sect is a planned one as was my last one.

My husband will go with baby as soon as he is born and ready to be taken to the nursery so I wil have my guard dog on them this time!

carladillon · April 2011

Babies do not need to be fed immediately after birth, but with that being said, I had an emergency c-section and they took me to my room immediately after the surgery. After they checked the baby and did all the medical things they needed to do with her, they bathed her and gave her to me to nurse. I want to say that was about an hour or so after the birth.

mum2jack&littleb · April 2011

SInce this is a planned C/S, you should be having different anesthesia than before (the epi). I've had a spinal with both my c-sections and they deliver morphine into the spinal, which is long-lasting pain management. You shouldn't be terribly out of it from medication.

All that being said, my DD was born at 2:30 am by C-section. We had her in recovery area with us and then she was taken to nursery while I was moved to a room. DH went with her and then went home to shower etc. When I woke up ~5 am in the room, I asked for the nurses to bring her so I could see her. I don't recall when she first nursed (except that it was after 6 am). Your LO should be fine. If there are issues which require you feed sooner than you anticipated, the nursing staff can bring baby directly to you.

NewMrs07 · April 2011

LyndaCarter:
I think that you should make it very clear that they are not to give your baby anything because you are breastfeeding. I would think she needs to eat pretty quickly, but 4-5 hours should be do-able.

This, I think 4-5 hrs is OK. The first milk you have is colostrum anyway, you don't really have milk per se until 3-4 days after birth. I gave both formula and breast milk to LO and he was never confused. But it did affect my milk supply. So if you want a good milk supply from the get-go I would suggest holding off on formula or if you do give formula, you can pump regularly to get your supply going. Good luck!

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