If you are given pain relief when you are in labour it can obviously affect early breastfeeding as the strong drugs cross the placenta.
The painkiller pethidine is a common offender, while in the US many babies are also affected by barbiturates. Such babies may be drowsy and apathetic about feeding for up to five days, though the effects usually wear off more quickly.
You might not be able to get your sedated baby to feed well but you can avoid giving a bottle, and you can keep your milk supply going by expressing or pumping after each feed. You can also give him expressed milk from a cup or spoon when he’s finished at the breast, and offer him the chance to go back to the breast if he wishes.
Wake him often for a feed - every two or three hours at least - as the sooner he learns how to breastfeed, the better. While you or a nurse may be able to get him to bottle-feed even if he won't feed from you, this isn't a good idea as he'll then be less likely to take to the breast once the sedation wears off.
Another culprit is syntocinon – synthetic oxytocin – given as an intravenous drip to stimulate labour contractions. The problem is that this temporarily suppresses the production by a woman’s pituitary gland of her own, natural oxytocin, so it may take longer than usual for her to establish a reliable let-down reflex.
Dr. Penny Stanway
June 2009
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