Can I breastfeed if I have mastitis?

For mothers of newborn babies, they are very afraid that the quality of their breast milk is not up to standard, which will directly affect the baby's physical health and development. Because in the early stages of a baby's growth, the nutritional status of the body is very important and even the slightest mistake cannot be tolerated. However, mastitis is a common disease for breastfeeding women. So can you continue breastfeeding after mastitis occurs?

Many new mothers with mastitis are always worried about not being able to breastfeed their babies. Experts point out that if mastitis develops rapidly, the mother may become afraid of cold and have a fever, and the affected breast area may become red, swollen, hot and painful.

At this time, if the patient's mother develops mastitis and has a fever, breastfeeding should be suspended if the fever exceeds 38.5 degrees. If the temperature does not exceed 38.5 degrees, it is best not to stop breastfeeding, as this will cause the milk to accumulate more. Therefore, when your breasts are painful, swollen, or even locally red, you should not stop breastfeeding, but you should breastfeed more frequently so that the milk in your breasts can be sucked out by your baby as soon as possible.

At this time, if the patient's mother has a fever, timely treatment measures should be taken, and the affected breast should be massaged and hot compressed. If the baby sucks moderately, the remaining milk can be sucked out with a breast pump to alleviate the blockage of the milk duct. Because milk is a natural culture medium that is easy for bacteria to grow, all the milk must be sucked out.

If the mother's breast abscess is about to rupture, she should stop breastfeeding on the affected breast and undergo surgery to open and drain the abscess. Small superficial abscesses can be treated under local anesthesia, while large and deep abscesses should be treated under intravenous anesthesia. Drains should be placed after all abscesses are incised, and dressings should be changed daily. Pus should be routinely cultured and tested for drug sensitivity.

In short, in the early stage of mastitis when the fever is high at 38.5℃ and the abscess has not yet formed, breastfeeding should continue. Stopping breastfeeding not only affects the baby's feeding, but also increases the chance of milk stasis. When localized breast suppuration occurs, breastfeeding should be stopped on the affected breast, and the milk should be drained out using conventional milking techniques or a breast pump to facilitate smooth milk discharge.

At the same time, the baby can still drink breast milk from the other healthy breast. Breastfeeding should be completely stopped only when the infection is severe or after abscess incision and drainage, or when breast atrophy occurs, and active treatment measures should be taken as prescribed by the doctor.

From the introduction in this article, we can know that fever caused by mastitis does not actually affect breastfeeding. Breastfeeding can only be stopped when the fever of mastitis reaches 38.5 degrees and local purulent formation in the breast occurs. In fact, continuing breastfeeding with mastitis is a very good choice for both the baby and the mother.