Any thoughts on how long you have to wait to breast feed after anesthesia? I'll be going into the hospital for a procedure (fairly simple) it'll take a half hour and i'll only be under local anesthesia. (which means I won't be completely out). I have gotten lots of different answers and it varies. Didn't know if anyone else had any ideas???
Thanks everyone! I was told I can breastfeed once i got home. They said the amount of anesthesia in my system was such a small amount that it wouldnt make a difference. The procedure went well and me and baby are doing fine
Locals tend to be just that, local. They do not effect the whole system therefore are less disruptive.
Ask your doctor just to be on the safe side but you should be able to nurse as soon as you have your hands free.
Dental work is a commonly known local. Would you even consider whether it is safe to nurse after a filling? That really is your answer.
Since it's local it should be fine to nurse as soon as you get home. I had a c-section and I nursed my son an hour later.
Asking the doc or pedi may not be helpful. If they tell you it's fine, no interruption in breastfeeding you can likely believe them as they take the most conservative posture. But if they tell you you need to wait 12 hrs or whatever, make sure they have actually looked it up in Hale. If they can't an LC or LLL Leader can do so. Often the prescribing info will have the blanket disclaimer that it cant be used when breastfeeding, but that is not necessarily true. Hale has the data as it pertains specifically to breastfeeding. I think you can also get info from U TX's Infant Risk Center. I believe this is the hotline # ###-###-####.
Call your lactation consultant, once you know the name of the anesthesia and they can give you an idea.
Most hospitals have one on staff, if not you can call the LLL in your area.
Find out what the local is and ask your doctor and /or pediatrician. Chances are you will be fine if it is a local. At worst you would need to pump and dump a couple times until it clears out of yor system.
I was under anesthesia when my daughter was two months old (not local) and I called everyone before the surgery...pediatrician, my OB, the hospital, etc. The only person who gave me a straight answer was the anesthesiologist. One of the doctor's I spoke to said it would be fine, but I wanted to double check. Glad I did because the anesthesiologist told me to wait 24 hours.
Good luck :)
Since it's a local, i wouldn't be worried about it. If you were going under, then that's a different story. but if you want to be safe, call the lactation nurse at your local hospital and ask.
I've always heard that once you are awake you can nurse. This came from my OB, my Ped, and from kellymom.com.
I was put completely under for two procedures. First one they told me I had to wait 12 hours. second time different doc told me 6 hours but that I could probably nurse after 2 or 3, they were being conservative even with that, he said the baby wouldn't get enough to even make them sleepy if I nursed right away. For a local I would think you can nurse immediately. I was able to nurse immediately after both my c-sections. But I did wait a few hours after being under completely both the other times. The first time I waited about 6 hours the second time maybe two hours which was about when i got home after being in recovery for the hour or so and then the drive home, and I nursed him right away.
I'm nursing my 5 week old and I go in for my tubal at the end of the month. My OB has told me that I can't nurse for two days- that seems a bit excessive to me. I go in on Friday for blood work for my surgery and I'm going to ask then.
