Help!!! Not enough breastmilk for baby???

[joannek]

ask your LC, she'll know. but from experience, a lot of my friends drink it right after gviing birth. should be ok.

 

[mintycat]

I also had plugged ducts because my DD spent an extra few days in the hospital due to jaundice and she was losing so much weight due to my decreasing milk supply that I gave in and supplemented with formula. I only saw Mrs. Chee after this and she helped solve my plugged ducts problem and my milk supply didn't become a problem after this. I drank Mother's Milk tea. In addition it is important to keep yourself hydrated so I drank lots of soup (esp fish and papya soup) and water. Eating oatmeal helps too either in the form of hot oatmeal for breakfast or even oatmeal cookies. Mrs. Chee told me that.

 

[cyberyoda]

I tried to contact Mrs Chee with the Tel no I obtained (93176366) but the person answer phone said that it is a wrong number. Would anybody be able to give me the contact no of Mrs Chee?? I would like to change the lactation consultant urgently.

What is plugged ducts?? I have a white dot on my left nipple today. Seems like quite difficult to remove it. Not sure what it is and how to remove it. Thinking it may block the milk outflow at the spot. Need to solve these problems asap....

Thanks all of your advice,

 

[AndreaY]

Mrs. Chee's no. is 9417 6366, not 9317 6366. Your white dot definitely sounds like blocked duct, hope you can solve your problem soon. By the way, Mrs. Chee's mobile phone is usually on voicemail, so do leave her a message and not ring off, she will get back to you as soon as she can.

 

[cyberyoda]

Talked to Mrs Chee. Her schedule is full the whole week....I don't want to wait any more...anybody knows how to solve the blocked duct??

Thanks a billion.

 

[AndreaY]

I just re-read the thread and see that you used Medela single pump. I know of many who do not get much from it. The Avent Hand pump is actually much better and there have been times where my milkducts were unblocked by the avent manual pump when it seemed nothing worked. In the meantime, before you have a chance to see a lactation consultant, maybe you can try taking an Advil, wait for a couple of hours, apply a warm compress, then try to pump with Avent hand pump. This was actually advice from Mrs. Chee before she had a chance to see me. Fingers crossed it will work for you! By the way, I once was so desperate cos Mrs. Chee could not fit me it, I went to Canossa Hospital as they told me that they also had lactation consultant. Ended up, they just put my baby to my breast in the hope that she could unblock it. Complete waste of my time!

 

[mintycat]

Yes the Medela single pump didn't get as much milk for me as the Avent Isis handpump, which was recommended to me by Mrs. Chee. The Medela also gave me bad pain on my nipples. Once I switched to the Avent, I had no problem getting milk.

As for plugged ducts, warm compress helps as does massaging your breasts towards the direction of your nipple, if you feel a small lump, that's where the plugged duct is and try to see if you can smooth it out. Or even letting the baby nurse more on the breast with the plugged ducts can help unclog it.

 

[joannek]

the white spot sounds like a yeast infection. you probably won't be unable to open it up cos the yeast is right at the opening of the duct. mrs chee would use a sterilised needle & poke it so the milk opening unblocked. meanwhile, buy NutriBiotic GCE (Grapefruit seed extract). it's a very strong anti-oxidant & it kills bad yeast (the ones that you have in your ducts) follow the instructions to take it orally. put 15 drops diluted in 1 oz water, paint this solution on your nipple after each feed, then cover your infected nipple with PLAIN yogurt & cover with breastpad until the next feed. Remove & rinse nipple & areola well before each feed cos the GSE is VERY bitter.
NutriBiotic is sold at Health Quest, they have a branch in HappyValley Yik Yam Street (across from Hk Sanatorium) & Times Square Basement LogOn (across from Citysuper). Meanwhile , refrain from eating anything sweet, made with yeast or grapes. So no bread, dessert, wines, grapes, anything that promotes yeast growth. put baby's chin at where you have the white spot & hopefully baby can help suck it out. what i did was i hand express at that duct (but i was pretty good at hand-expressing then & mrs chee had been teaching me a lot), so the duct clears out.

bte, i gave you the wrong no, must'v been a typo. do tell mrs chee about your yeast infection & book her for next week to come to see you.

a lot of us had yeast infection, but not much ppl know about them besides LCs. if you go to your ped or ob about it, they'll probably giv eyou anti-biotic. DO NOT TAKE ANTI-BIOTIC. cos it kills the good yeast in your body & your yeast infection will become worse.

good luck!

 

[oliviakowong]

First of all, congratulations on the arrival of your new born.

There are some very detailed advice in the prior posts, so I want to share something else instead.

Personally I find the Medela electric breast pump not too helpful for expressing milk unless you have very engorged breasts. If you want to express milk (in particular when your supply is towards the low side), try using one of the manual ones instead (I use Avent), and/or using your hands to express (a lactation consultant would be able to teach you this).

According to my Chinese maternity nurse, there are a few types of food that would increase your milk supply: fish soup, papaya, fish, squid. Generally down lots of fluid (soup (better), milk, mothers' milk tea etc. ). However, there are also are a few things that you should avoid too: wheat, pork liver, pigeon, black beans, and grapes.

Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy breastfeeding.

 

[LLL_Sarah]

The white spot on the nipple sounds as though it is a milk bleb. These can be caused by a plugged duct, thrush or skin blocking the milk duct and may oocur after a trauma to the nipple.

If the bleb doesn't hurt, nothing needs to be done. If it is painful, try to apply wet heat either with a warm compress or by soaking the nipple in warm water. Another approach is to wear a cotton ball soaked in olive oil in your bra to soften the skin and then attempt to peel away the thickened layer of skin. After the feed attempt to express from the nipple the remaining material by compressing the nipple behind the plug. Sometimes it is possible to express a thickened string of milk, which will help open the duct and keep it open.

If the above treatment doesn't bring quick relief, I'd suggest going o see your doctor or a nurse to open the blister. It is easy to get infection when you do this yourself as there is a correct technique to opening a blister. If you do have to open the blister use a little lansinoh cream afterwards as this will speed the healing and reduce the scar tissue.

Best wishes,
SARAH