Mastitis and Breastfeeding Your Newborn

Mastitis is an infection of the breast that occurs mostly in women during the first few months of breastfeeding. You will notice severe pain in your breast while your baby is nursing and even some redness or warmth of the skin. Flu-like symptoms with fatigue, fever, and body aches can accompany the infection. All of the symptoms can occur gradually but usually occur within 24 hours.

The infection is mostly caused by not completely draining the breast during a feeding. Tight bras or poor support can also contribute to it. Usually this occurs when a baby nurses in the exact same position every time and the whole breast is not drained. The infection can come through cracks in the nipple as well. The infection is in the breast tissue and not in the milk itself. Your milk does not contain any bacteria during mastitis.

If you notice these symptoms, it is important to contact your doctor immediately. Remember it is safe to continue breast-feeding your infant and completely draining a clogged duct by nursing can actually help you heal. If it is too painful to do this, warm compresses applied to the affected area while manually expressing the milk or pumping may help. If your doctor prescribes antibiotics, it is important to complete the course of medication, usually a 10-14 day dose. Symptoms will resolve much sooner than this and if they do not, contact your doctor again. You can have mastitis more than once, and unfortunately, you are more susceptible to it after your first infection. Rapidly treating mastitis with home remedies or antibiotics is important for both your pain and to prevent abscess formation.

It’s important to know about mastitis if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeeding. It is a concern to pediatricians because many women will prematurely wean their infant off breastfeeding because of mastitis. Breast milk is best for your baby, especially in the first 6-12 months and should be continued for as long as the mother can provide milk comfortably.