Can epidurals affect breast feeding?
June 13, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
One wouldn’t think that an epidural can have an effect on breast feeding an infant, but surprisingly, it just might.
According to research published late last year in the International Breastfeeding Journal, women who had epidurals had “significantly more difficulty breastfeeding during the first few days after delivery and to breastfeed less often than other women.”
Information like this is important because of a woman who had an epidural does have problems, if the nursing staff and healthcare professionals are aware of this connection, they may be able to step in before the mothers get too frustrated.
Image: Newscom
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Very useful infomation for new mothers to consider. Thanks!
so where does that leave c-section mommies/babies?
@Jenn – thanks. I’m glad you found it useful.
@Mary – that’s a good question. I’ll see if I can find a follow up. I think that this is really kind of a heads up study. If people know that it may be the epidural causing the problem, they may stick it out if the bf-ing is a bit difficult.