Breast infections - How to prevent mastitis?

What are breast-feeding and its benefits?

Breast-feeding is feeding your baby breast milk directly from your breast. Breast-feeding is also feeding a baby from a bottle after expressing the milk with a pump. The fact is breast milk is the ideal food for your baby because it is the most complete and only nutrition source needed for babies up to 6 months of age. Breast-feeding also reduces child’s risk for developing many types of infections, eczema and asthma, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Breast-feeding could help you to recover from the stresses of pregnancy, labor, and delivery and it also lower your risk for breast cancer. Hormones in woman’s body prepare for and trigger production of breast milk. Toward the end of pregnancy and during the first few days after delivery, glands in the breast produce colostrum. When body releases prolactin, a hormone that stimulates milk production, your breasts produces more milk. The more frequently you breast-feed, the more milk you will produce in breasts glands. Breast-feeding is a learned technique so you will get better at it with practice. Almost all breast-feeding difficulties, such as sore nipples you may prevent using proper technique and by talking to your doctor or a lactation consultant. The first weeks of breast-feeding are usually the most challenging for young mothers.

What is mastitis?

Mastitis means that the breast is inflamed, and there is swelling, redness, tenderness and pain you might feel. There may be an infection, so it is wise to consult your health-care provider to determine if antibiotic is necessary. In some cases, breast infection can become a breast abscess that requires surgical draining. However, this is easy to prevent by treating mastitis promptly.

Signs of mastitis

Part or the entire breast is intensely painful, hot, tender, red, and swollen. Some mothers can pinpoint a definite area of inflammation, but sometimes, entire breast is tender.

Woman feel tired, run down, achy, have chills or think she might has the flu. A breastfeeding mother who thinks she has the flu, she probably has mastitis. Mothers with mastitis will sometimes experience these flu-like symptoms, and this is going to happen even before they get a fever or notice breast tenderness. Woman has also chills or feel feverish, or temperature is 101F or higher. These symptoms suggest that you have an infection known as mastitis and you should visit your doctor. If you are feeling progressively worse, your breasts are growing tenderer and your fever is worse, you have to visit the doctor. With simple engorgement, a plugged duct, or mastitis without infection, you gradually feel better instead of worse during the time.

Home treatment for mastitis

From the time you begin breast-feeding, until your baby weans, it is wise to take measures to prevent mastitis. If you have any symptom of mastitis, you should contact your health professional right away. Delaying treatment can lead to an abscess forming in the affected breast, which is serious condition. Severe infection could even require intravenous antibiotics in the hospital.

Along with oral antibiotic treatment, adequate emptying of the affected breast helps prevent more bacteria from collecting. It may also shorten the duration of the infection.

You can safely continue breast-feeding your baby or pumping breast milk to feed your baby during illness. You could also continue with breast-feeding even if you receive treatment for mastitis. You should know that your baby is the most efficient pump you have for emptying your breasts. Your breast milk is safe for your baby to drink because any bacteria in your milk baby’s digestive juices will destroy. Before breast-feeding your baby, place a warm, wet washcloth over the affected breast for about 15 minutes. You should do it only if your milk will easily leak and try this at least 3 times a day. This increases milk flow in the breast, while massaging the affected breast may also increase milk flow. If it is possible, you should continue breast-feeding on both sides. It would be ideally to start on the affected side. It is critical that this breast is empty thoroughly. If this breast is too painful to start with, try feeding from the healthy breast first and then after your milk is flowing, breast-feed from the affected breast until it feels soft. After this, switch back to the healthy breast and breast-feed until your baby has finished.

Pump or express milk from the affected breast if pain prevents you from breast-feeding during mastitis. Common problem is nipple pain that you feel because the baby latching on to sore nipples.

Self-care measures for mastitis

First, you have to take regularly your prescribed antibiotics and continuing to breast-feed or pump breast milk as your doctor told you. Beside this, some other steps you can take, to make yourself feel better, until the mastitis goes away. You may take acetaminophen such as Tylenol, to relieve your pain or discomfort. You can take ibuprofen along with acetaminophen to reduce inflammation if necessary. Try to rest as much as possible. You might also apply ice packs to the affected breast to help reduce your pain. Place the ice outside of your bra or clothing and do not put the ice directly on your bare skin. You should drink extra fluids, and if your breasts are overfull, pump or express a small amount of breast milk before breast-feeding. This will make your breasts less full and will make it easier for your baby to latch on to your breast. If pus is draining from your infected breast, wash the nipple gently and let it air dry. The fact is that disposable breast pad placed in the bra cup may absorb the drainage. Most women can successfully continue breast-feeding during a breast infection or mastitis. If mastitis makes it difficult for you to continue breast-feeding while the infection is under treatment, remember that emptying your breasts regularly is essential.

How to prevent mastitis?

The best way to prevent mastitis is to avoid the situations that set you up for it and relieve engorgement promptly. Your doctor should tell you milk that does not flow gets thicker and clogs the ducts, which is a set-up for mastitis. This means you should breastfeed frequently and do not restrict the length of feedings. If you feel your breasts getting full, encourage your baby to nurse and relieve you. You do not have to wait for baby to tell you he is hungry. You should also avoid sleeping on your stomach or so far over on your side that your breasts compress against the mattress. Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest, both of mind and body. Problems with recurrent mastitis are usually the result of irregular breastfeeding patterns: missing feedings. This could also be the result of giving bottles in place of breast-feedings. In some cases, skipping pumping sessions when separated from the baby could also be the reason for mastitis. That is why to prevent mastitis; you have to avoid these situations. Recurrent mastitis may also mean that mother’s immune system generally runs down. The reason could be fatigue and stress. Mastitis is a sign that you need to take a closer look at your lifestyle and breastfeeding relationship and make some adjustments for this.

When does woman need antibiotic treatment for mastitis?

You can experience the pain and inflammation of mastitis without necessarily having a bacterial infection as some other women might have. Yet, it is often difficult to tell whether mastitis has become a breast infection and when it is going to pass on its own. That is why, it is necessary to consult your healthcare provider as soon as you suspect mastitis. You should know most commonly, in medical practice, doctors operate on the principle of better to treat mastitis earlier than later. Mothers who start with antibiotics too late in the course of mastitis are more likely to wean their babies from the breast.

Which antibiotics are best to treat mastitis?

The type of bacteria involved in mastitis is usually staphylococcus. In this case, the two safest and most effective classes of antibiotics against this organism are cloxacillins and cephalosporins. Other frequently prescribed antibiotics are Augmentin or erythromycin depends from case to case. All of these antibiotics are safe to take while breastfeeding and will not affect your baby. Even though you will feel better after a few days of taking antibiotics, you have to be sure to complete the full course of antibiotics prescribed by your doctor. Therapy usually lasts for ten days and you have to take it all. Otherwise, you run the risk of the mastitis returning. If you do not feel better after two or three days on antibiotics, you should call your doctor, so he or she may wish to prescribe a different medication to treat your mastitis.