| Home | |  | |  | |||||
Engorgement
Immediately following delivery of your baby your body starts making colostrum. “Your milk will become more plentiful, or “come in” some time between the second to the sixth day after delivery.”(LLL55). The process of your milk turning from colostrums to mature milk takes around two weeks. Engorgement is when your breasts become hard and painful beyond the normal feeling of fullness. So, what do you do?
- The best way to relieve engorgement is to breastfeed as much as possible. You want to get the overabundance of milk out and the swelling of the breast down. Many moms have found it beneficial to take a warm shower before nursing or apply warm towels to the breast. The combination of heat and frequent breastfeeding often helps elevate the discomfort.
- With sever cases of engorgement. You can apply ice pack or cool compresses to the breast to assist with pain control and help decrease the swelling. This must be followed by heat before initiating breastfeeding. Sometimes a mother may even develop a low grade fever.
- Gentle breast massage may also help. You simply take the palm of your hand and move in a circular motion downward toward the nipple. This is often more effective if used in combination with a warm shower.
- Cabbage leaves can also be used. They must however be used sparingly because they have been associated with decreasing your milk supply. If you choose to use cabbage leaves you should first wash the leaves. You can put them in the refrigerator or keep them at room temperature. The coolness from the refrigerated leaves? is often soothing. You should cut out the hard vein in the center of the leaf and cut a hole for the nipple. The leaves are then placed inside your bra. You can wear them until they are wilted usually around 2-4 hours. You wear them in between feedings for up to eight hours. Again, be careful because they have been associated with decreasing milk supply. (LLL 56)
