Hi everyone it's me again I'm recording from a new location today. I'm visiting
my family in Maine and I still wanted to stop by and do my weekly video for you.
I thought that I would do a quick video today on engorgement, so if you're
new to our channel welcome. Please give the video a like if you like the
information you find here and subscribe down below to the channel so that you
can get our weekly updates on all the videos that we post within lactation.
Engorgement is one of those things that many families face within a day or two
after leaving the hospital, because as a parent switches from that initial
colostrum phase into the mature milk phase often you're going to feel that the
breast feels very full, firm, it can feel quite congested swollen and sometimes
even painful, so a lot of families face a lot of initial frustration and dealing
with this initial engorgement if managed correctly this engorgement will usually
resolve itself within 24 to 48 hours however a lot of times families are
tempted to reach for a pump and try to empty and empty that breast or chest and
the more you empty and the more that milk is removed the more that you're
signaling your brain to produce more milk and that can actually make the
problem worse the best way to manage this initial engorgement period is just
by doing frequent feedings. offer the baby to feed often and between feeds
avoid emptying the breast or chest any extra, unless that pain and fullness is
just so uncomfortable that you can't wait until the next feeding, in that case
what I usually recommend is that if you need to empty a little bit of milk just
use some hand expression a manual pump or if you do use an electric breast pump
any of the above techniques just for about 2 to 5 minutes just enough to
soften the tissue and relieve some of that pressure take the edge off a little
bit and then put some cold compresses over
your bra or over your shirt and wear them for about 15 to 20 minutes between
feedings sometimes when the tissue is so firm it can kind of flatten out the
nipple or make the latch really difficult for your baby so you may also
need to use a little bit of hand expression to empty a little bit of milk
out just to soften the tissue and help the baby get a latch or if you start out
with a shallower latch once the once the tissue feels a little softer unlatch the
baby and relatch with the deeper latch so that it is more effective for the
remainder of the feeding. While baby is latched if you do some compressions of
the tissue especially focusing on areas that feel extra congested just use your
hands to do some compressions kind of all the way around and work that milk
out towards the baby if the tissue is extremely engorged and you're unable to
get any of the milk forward you may want to seek the advice of a lactation
support person or a board certified lactation consultant another technique
that may be necessary is to do some reverse massage or therapeutic breast
massage and we can certainly cover that technique in another video because often
you need to be able to move back some of that swelling before moving milk forward
so just as a recap frequent feedings with baby trying to avoid extra emptying
with pumping between feedings trying to avoid extra heat well the breast or
chest is engorged because the heat can actually over stimulate and make the
problem worse. Instead using cold compresses between feeds to relieve
some of that swelling and is kind of a last case scenario if you're feeling so
engorged that you just can't wait until baby's next feeding and you need to
empty a little bit to take the edge off just empty for about two to five minutes,
until you're feeling a little bit of relief and then pop on that cold
compress I hope you found these tips helpful I know it was a quick video I
like to bring you quick videos from time to time so if there's anything that you
want to see please comment down below I'm happy to cover any topic that you
are interested in remember to like the video and subscribe to the channel hit
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Tuesdays and I'm gonna leave you guys some of our other videos on the screen
so that you can check out some of the other topics that we've covered