Epidurals may cause breastfeeding difficulties

None what-so-ever. Granted we're only going on 3 months, but I haven't had any issues at all so far. I think this just falls under the 'everyone is different' category. Who's to say that had these women NOT taken an epidural that they wouldn't have STILL had problems?

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We didn't have any trouble. My daughter just weaned for good (finally!!) at 2 1/2. I didn't even get to do the first feed since I had complications after the birth. I got to see her about 10 hours later and from then on it was good to go! We were extremely fortunate in our experience.

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I've never had an epidural, but I have seen plenty of moms as a breastfeeding counselor who did seem to have problems because of the epidural.

The babies often seem confused or uncoordinated when they try to nurse. They may be sleepy and harder to get to wake up and stay awake long enough to nurse.

And then I've worked with at least one mom who had an epidural, was already having some nursing issues, and then sent her baby to be circumcised. With the pain of the circumcision coupled with the breastfeeding problems that were already going on, it's not a surprise that the baby was not latching on and mom weaned within a week.

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No, notat all. Fed until 11 mos. One friend and one SIL have, though. Both have succeeded but it required serious dedication and hard work. All three of us had c-sec's.

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An important element to these findings that wasn't discussed in the article here but was discussed quite extensively at a professional conference I recently attended which examined this information is that when the mother has an epidural, it interferes with the normal physiological path of labour and delivery which in turn interferes with a newborns nursing cues.

For example, some babies are a little sleepier or slower after epidural assisted births which may leave them a little lazy at the breast because the laxness of the mothers pelvic muscles did not perform their stimulating movements during birthing.

Another example: the inability to feel labour pain, the intention of the epidural, blocks the release of endorphins, our body's homemade drug to dull the normal labour pains, which in turn can mess with the the brain's production of oxytocin, affecting letdown, bonding and the involution of the uterus.

While having an epdural is not going to make or break the health of a newborn and the success of breastfeeding, there is now a better understanding that labour and delivery is a very delicately balanced dance performed by both the mother and the baby and the more external factors interfere with the normal physiological path of birth, the more the possibility for problems.

Forewarned is forearmed, of course, and if breastfeeding is important to a woman, she can overcome mmost obstacles to breastfeeding success.

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We had some issues the first few weeks, but I don't know if I would correlate them to the epidural. We had latch issues, which lots of women have initially~ regardless of the type of birth they had, and we stuck through it for a very successful nursing relationship. My daughter is still nursing at 4 years!

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I had an unmedicated homebirth and had terrible nursing problems. My DD was sleepy and uncoordinated because she was three weeks early and just couldn't get the hang of it. I'd like to see more specific information on exactly what kind of nursing difficulties epidural moms had. Was it problems with supply? Latching?

On the one hand, I'm obviously pro-natural birth, but on the other hand, studies with vague wording like this usually just help feed guilt and not much else.

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I did not experience any problem, and even if this research does prove to be some what true that is no reason in my opinion to not take epidural :)

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I had three epidurals, three c-sections, and had my son circumcized. Breastfeeding was NOT important to me AT ALL (I was fully prepared to use formula and bottles, and with our my last baby, I even gave permission to the hospital to try giving a bottle of sugar water BEFORE they brought him to me to nurse, because I really wanted to get some SLEEP!). I do think my babies were a little groggy at first from all the drugs in their systems, but by the time my milk came in, they were all latching on just fine.

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My first boy was born after a c-section after 24 hours of labor and no dilation. He was much quieter then my 2nd, but according to the pediatrician that was due to the c-section and not getting the adrenaline kick of a vaginal birth. He had trouble latching on and eventually we used a nipple shiled, and that solved that problem the whole time he nursed. I do not credit the epidural or spinal block for his problems nursing, he has issues with using his mouth.

My second baby was wide awake after being born, and he was delivered vaginally after an epidural. He had and has had no problem with latching on or cueing on when to nurse.

Maybe it may be more true depending on when you get the epidural and when they take away the medicated drip? Often the ob/gyn will have the drip backed off so that a woman who is to deliver soon will feel the contractions.

And as for "Baby names expert", I will tell you that my epidural the last time allowed me to relax and dilate naturally and I avoided a 2nd c-section. I believe there are reasons for epidurals, so you might want to think about what you said. Every action we take may change the entire desired outcomes of any event, and sometimes a risk is worth it.

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Hmmm...I had an epidural and a C-section. Plenty of meds in my system and my baby latched on immediately, never had any trouble nursing, and is still nursing at 11 months.

It's different for everyone.

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I forgot to mention that my son was also circumsized at 2 days old. They use a local anæsthetic. He screamed for about 5 seconds and then nursed himself into a happy sleep.

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DS-no epidural, but did get fentanyl alone in Transition...he was very sleepy and constantly fell asleep at the breast for at least 4 days.....

DD-epidural, both of us had fevers and no problems whatsoever with nursing.

I wonder how much of the study's results could be attributed to self-selection in the study group.

I would love to see a study based on attitudes about parenting, nurturing, breastefedding etc vs BFing success. That would seem to be more telling. Seems like the women who say, I will try it, stop much sooner than women who say, I will breastfeed.

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I had heard this before I delivered my son, and since I was planning to BFAR (breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery), it terrified me. Assuming I didn't need any more strikes against me, I went to the hospital determined to deliver without drugs. I ended up being induced 7 days after my due-date. After about 5 hours of pitocin-enhanced contractions, and nearly passing out at their peaks, I went for the epidural. Ah, bliss.

A few hours later I delivered my son and he was latched on to one side within about 45 minutes. (Took him until the next day to latch well on both sides.) I nursed him for just over a year, with remarkably few problems, especially considering my BFAR situation.

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I had an epidural and a C-section and my daughter spent four days in the NICU. I wasn't able to breastfeed her until day two of her stay there (she was fed colostrom/breastmilk first through a feeding tube and eventually by bottle. We had a wonderful and successful breastfeeding relationship for 17 months.

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My birth experience was similar, Kim. I heard about epidurals causing breastfeeding problems and REALLY tried hard not to get one. I waited 19 hours, then they were going for pitocin and I got one.

My daughter latched on fine and breastfed for a year and a half. No problems. If there were any initial problems, I wouldn't have understood them. Breastfeeding is tough to figure out in the beginning.

I'm pregnant again and SCREW the research. I'm having an epidural AND I'm going to breastfeed my baby.

I have a hard time believing that the first few hours after birth will necessarily affect an entire breastfeeding relationship.

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My son has never been fed formula and is still exclusively breast-fed at eight months. I went in to labor planned on taking epidural past the 5 cm dilation point, did just that. We had trouble latching and I had an infection of the nipple in the first month - but we continued nursing nevertheless. I don't think epidural played any part in any of the minor difficulties I encountered while breast-feeding, although it did make my labor pleasant and manageable.

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Great! More propaganda that will discourage women from asking for pain control *if they want it*.

Give me a break, please. What we have here, again, is correlation and not causation.

And for the record, I had an epidural (a rockin' epidural, actually ;) ) and my daughter latched on ten minutes after birth. We're still going strong at 7 months PP. And btw, I certainly could and did "experience" my daughter's birth. I pushed for 20 minutes and she was out. After that, I was rested and comfortable so I could truly bond with her. I wonder if anyone's looked into any possible correlation between NOT using pain control in labor/delivery and breastfeeding difficulties. I mean, what about women who are so emotionally and physically shot after labor that they can't bond with their babies fully and right away?

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This is ridiculous, I don't buy this at all. I BF both of my kids for over a year and had an epidural with the first and a c-section with the second. All this study does is make women feel guilty for getting pain meds, which is absurd. BF sometimes takes work and I have seen way too many friends stop too soon, but I don't believe for a second pain relief during labor had anything to do with it. You can find a study for anything these days

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I had an epidural for about 17 hours during labour, went on to have a c-section, and yes, we did have breastfeeding problems - my milk a bit longer to come in. The baby also had trouble latching on, and was a sleepy nurser, but she was jaundiced as well, which makes them sleepy.

I resent the study saying that women who have epidurals might be less motivated to breastfeed. Just because I didn't want the extreme pain of all-natural labour, doesn't mean I don't want to breastfeed my baby.

We persevered through our initial difficulties and now she's a 100% breastfed 3 month old, and I plan to keep going until she's a year old.

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