Mastitis and Breast Infection in Breastfeeding Mothers

Every mother definitely wants to give her baby the best, including breast milk until the child is 2 years old. However, not a few have difficulty providing the best nutritional intake due to disease disorders, such as mastitis.

Mastitis can cause excruciating pain for the mother because of a blockage that prevents milk from coming out. To overcome this, doctors sometimes perform a medical procedure known as drainage if the blockage is severe enough. The process is to remove breast milk by removing the blockage.

Symptoms of mastitis

A blockage in the milk outlet can cause not only pain but other health problems. The blocked milk can cause pus to form. Apart from blockages, mastitis can also occur due to an infection in the breast.

If this is not treated immediately, the baby will also be affected, namely by not being able to receive breast milk, which is the main food, until the child reaches the age of 6 months. Mastitis often occurs early in the breastfeeding period, so sometimes it makes the mother stop breastfeeding. Symptoms of this health disorder often include :

• There is swelling in the breast, both left and right or both, which causes a feeling of heat and pain when touched. In addition, the color of the breast skin will usually also turn redder.

• There are lumps at several points that contain lumps of breast milk, making it difficult to remove them.

• A feeling of heat in the breast can appear only when the baby is breastfeeding or for a long time, which makes the body feel uncomfortable and interferes with health.

• Sometimes discharge from the nipples, but not breast milk, can be clear or reddish because it is mixed with blood.

• Prolonged tired feeling that doesn't go away even after taking a short break..

• The body feels hot and cold and feverish, as if you are experiencing flu symptoms..

• Headaches that bother you because they can feel severe.

• Nausea and vomiting

• Experiencing muscle and joint pain

These symptoms, if not treated immediately, can make the mother's body drop and make her fall ill easily. Moreover, mothers who have just had children often lack rest hours and experience psychological fatigue, which decreases their immune system.

Factors causing mastitis

As a new mother, knowledge about the reproduction of breast milk and giving it to the baby is very important. Apart from having an effect on the mother and baby, the right breastfeeding position can encourage maximum milk production so that the baby's needs are met.

Errors in breastfeeding can cause the baby to not be able to breastfeed comfortably and in the perfect position. In addition, mothers can also experience several health problems due to the wrong position, such as the occurrence of mastitis. Factors that drive this health disorder are :

• Chapped nipples because the skin surface is too dry and the wrong care

• Improper attachment between the baby's mouth and the breast so that the milk cannot come out completely.

• When breastfeeding, the mother uses too much of one side of the breast, left or right

• The gap or distance between previous feedings is too long, causing the accumulation of breast milk and clots.

• Mother is wearing a bra or clothes that are too tight.

• There is another cause of blockage

How to Treat Mastitis in Breastfeeding Mothers

Immediate treatment when mastitis symptoms appear needs to be done so that milk production returns smoothly. Thus, the mother no longer feels pain, and the little one also immediately gets the best nutritional intake. There are several ways of treating it that are usually done, namely :

1. Direct breastfeeding

This interruption in the flow of breast milk occurs due to a blockage that often occurs because the lumps of breast milk do not come out. Therefore, the first step that needs to be taken is to remove the blockage by breastfeeding the baby more often, either directly or indirectly. This is done if the cause of mastitis is not an infection.

When the baby starts suckling, maybe the mother will feel sick because the breast milk lump has been pulled. To minimize the pain, you can break the clot. You do this by giving a light massage or compressing with warm water.

Massaging and pushing milk toward the nipple can also minimize the possibility of clots and the appearance of mastitis. Do this in a relaxed manner a few minutes before breastfeeding the baby.

2. Antibiotics

Mastitis caused by infection is often cured by taking the right antibiotics. However, this treatment must be carried out with extreme caution considering that the ingredients in antibiotics can be carried over during metabolism and into breast milk. When the baby suckles, these substances can enter the baby's body.

Although mastitis is a common disease experienced by mothers who are just starting to breastfeed their babies, it should not be taken lightly. The impact is felt not only by the mother but also by the baby. Even if you have to stop breastfeeding, there is a risk that the baby will not get enough nutrition because breast milk is the best source of food for babies.

Friends of Hermina can consult about mastitis with a surgeon at the hospital. nearest Hermina, or you can also do an online consultation through the Halo Hermina Application.