# Breastfeeding after surgery?



## saki1 (Mar 6, 2009)

I have to undergo laparoscopic surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. For anyone who's had experiences with general anethesia and breastfeeding...

How soon did bf resume (I've heard everything from 12-48 hours)?

How did you know all the drugs were out of your system and could start nursing again?

Any tips on how to deal?

My 6 month old doesn't take a bottle and barely drinks from a sippy cup! I know she probably won't starve, but any ideas on how to get through it would be helpful!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!


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## mysticmomma (Feb 8, 2005)

No need to pump and dump. As soon as you are lucid enough to hold your baby, you can nurse.


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## saki1 (Mar 6, 2009)

I've never been under any anesthesia before (was completely drug-free when I had my dd), so I'm assuming that the meds will get into my bloodstream and bm.

No pump and dump at all, or should I do that at least immediately afterwards and while I'm still groggy?


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I've had surgery within two months with both of my kids, and in both cases bf as soon as I was able to hold them. I was still a little groggy from pain meds, but aneasthesia these days doesn't keep you as groggy as it used to. Regardless, women are given it during birth in some cases and bf immediately afterward. And if women are given it during birth, babies are getting it through the bloodstream - much, much, much more strongly than in bm.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mysticmomma* 
No need to pump and dump. As soon as you are lucid enough to hold your baby, you can nurse.









:


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

GA leaves your body very quickly. Check specifically which drug/s they're giving you, and ask here for a Hale's reference, just to be sure, if you're really concerned. But for the most part, by the time you feel clear-headed enough to sit up and talk, it's safe to nurse again.

I had GA when my twins were two months old. My ped recommended one pump and dump, an hour afterwards, just because the twins were still so very tiny and were particularly vulnerable as a result to possible traces of the drugs in my milk. But even that she said was "just to be on the safe side." I nursed I think two hours after the procedure, and would have nursed sooner, but the twins weren't with me before then.

It was hard on them. DD2 took a bottle, and DD1 was weaned by then, but DS cried a LOT. DH wound up giving him his milk through a medicine syringe, just to make sure he was fed. But I was away for more than four hours, because of other factors.

An option, if you can arrange it, is to have somebody bring baby to wherever you're having the procedure, so that you can nurse right before, and baby can be brought to you right afterwards. That leaves a lapse of only a few hours, and it's possible your DC might be able to make it through with somebody to keep her distracted.

My GI guy who was doing the procedure tried to tell me 24 hours. His anesthesiologist tried to tell me THREE DAYS. Sometimes I think these people pull this stuff out of their backsides. Or they're trying to cover their backsides.

This is very good reliable information here:
http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-surgery.html


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## saki1 (Mar 6, 2009)

Thanks so much to all of you for the info. I already feel a lot better about the bf. Now it's just a matter of trying not to freak about the actual procedure, or the state of my ovary (assuming there's still something left) post-surgery.


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