Relieving Blocked Milk Ducts from Breastfeeding

Video Transcript

"I'm going to talk about how you can relieve a blocked duct. Some women are prone to blocked ducts, and that happens when your milk gets stuck in one of the ductal systems and then it backs up behind it. This can be extremely extremely painful, and if it's not dealt with quickly, or there's any avenue for bacteria into your breast it can become mastitis. If you do feel feverish or achy in any way contact your obstetrician to get a prescription for antibiotics in case that you do have mastitis. If you have blocked ducts, which you can have without getting mastitis, the way to deal with it is, there are several different tools. One of the things is that you're going to want to be a nurse on that side first. It hurts a lot, but you kind of have to grin and bear it. Put the baby to the breast on the side where the block is, and nurse on that side first. One tip is to put the baby's chin toward the block, so if the block is over here, you're going to want to use, put the baby in this position so his chin is towards the block. The other thing that you can do, is before you put the baby on is use a hot compress that you pop in the microwave and just put it around between your bra and your skin and massage behind with the pads of your fingers behind the blockage in circles down towards the nipple. It hurts. There's no way around it, but this will help it pass. So the heat before, some massage, and put the baby on. The other thing that you can use is a poultice that we like from Earth Mama Angel Baby. You put it in a little muslin sack, you seep it for a bit, and you put it on your skin between your bra and your breast for a few minutes before you nurse or after to help pull it out. The other thing that works really nicely and we're not sure why, but is cabbage leaves. Keep it in the fridge so it's nice a cool and feels good against your skin. Just pop the top hard part off, pull out the vein in the back, crunch it up just a little bit. And then you're going to lay this against your skin in between your skin and your bra. And do this after you're done nursing and again that can help pull the block out. Sometimes blocks can take twenty-four hours to pass. Just keep using the heat, the massage, and the coolness afterwards. Start your baby on that side. If it still hurts after the baby's done nursing, you might want to try and use your breast pump for a few minutes to pull that blockage out. If it takes more than twenty-four hours to pass, do call a local lactation consultant and again, if you're feeling feverish or flu-like symptoms, call your obstetrician because you might need a prescription for antibiotics."