What to do if your breasts swell and hurt during lactation

Breast swelling during lactation is a common phenomenon. After this phenomenon occurs, it is more difficult for women to breastfeed, and it will also affect the health of the child. Therefore, many breastfeeding women want to know how to protect their breasts during lactation. For your health, and so that you can understand the protection methods, please take a look at the introduction below.

(1) During the lactation period, the mother should ensure adequate nutrition to meet the physiological needs of both mother and child. Otherwise, the mother may produce less milk, which may affect the growth and development of the baby, consume too much body fat, become thin, and eventually have breast atrophy.

(2) Breastfeeding mothers should maintain a good mental state, be in a good mood, lead a regular life, get enough sleep, and avoid mental stimulation and negative emotions that may lead to poor milk secretion and excretion.

(3) When breastfeeding, alternate between the left and right sides; feed more on the smaller breast with less milk so that both breasts are of equal size, and adjust the feeding time to just suck out all the milk from both breasts. This way, there will be no increased chance of infection due to congestion of excess milk, and there will be no shortage of milk. It can also prevent excessive milk secretion from causing breast sagging and atrophy in the future.

(4) Massage and pull the nipples frequently to thicken the skin to prevent nipple edema or damage when the baby sucks, thereby avoiding the occurrence of mastitis. If you have a fever or breast swelling and pain, you should consider the possibility of mastitis and treat it as soon as possible to prevent the condition from getting worse.

(5) Also, you should wear a bra during breastfeeding to prevent breast sagging.

The breasts of lactating women are more delicate and more susceptible to damage and infection. At the same time, it is responsible for feeding the baby and needs to secrete a large amount of milk. Therefore, breast care during this period should not only pay attention to protecting the health of the breasts, but also maintain and enhance the milk secretion function of the breast. The specific protection measures are mainly:

6. During breastfeeding, you should prevent damage to the nipples and areola. Before and after each breastfeeding, wash the nipples and areola with warm water to keep them clean and dry.

7. If you find dirt or sweat on the nipples, clean them immediately to prevent erosion and rupture of the nipples. In addition, it is also necessary to prevent dirt from invading the breast through the nipple duct or other damage, which may cause acute mastitis.

8. The time and frequency of breastfeeding should be regular every day. Generally, breastfeeding should be done once every 3-4 hours (can be reduced once at night), and both breasts should be fed alternately. Each time you breastfeed, you should try to let your baby finish sucking all the milk. If there is any excess, it should be gently massaged and squeezed out to prevent local milk congestion and breast disease.

9. The mother should adopt the correct breastfeeding posture, such as sitting, side-lying or semi-sitting, to facilitate local blood circulation in the breast and protect the lactation function.

10. Do not let the baby sleep with the nipple in his mouth while breastfeeding. This habit can easily cause the baby to suck on the nipple and encourage the baby to suck too hard, causing nipple damage.

11. During breastfeeding, you should choose a bra that is soft, absorbent and of the right size to prevent breast sagging and shock in life and work.

The above content provides a comprehensive introduction to the protection methods for breast swelling and pain during lactation. So for women, if you have breast swelling during lactation and it affects your breast health, you can use the protection methods introduced above and then protect your breasts in a targeted manner. I believe there will be a great improvement, which will make your breastfeeding healthier.