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Hello Everyone! I am Lindsey Marx, I work in the Southwest MN Region for Mayo Clinic Health System and have 3 children. An 11 year old girl, an almost 3 year old girl and a 10.5 month old boy. I BF my oldest for 3 months and as a young mother ended up dropping off. At that time I was living in Roseville, MN and am so thankful for the home nurse visit that I had available to me because I am sure I would have ended up with mastitis and stopped breastfeed before those 3 months. Now as an older mother I have enjoyed breastfeeding my 3 year old until she was one and am going to reach my goal of BF my youngest until one also.
While I don't necessarily enjoy pumping at work I take the time to reframe it as a good reason to take breaks during the day and know that I am able to and supported by my employer to provide the best nutrition for my little guy. I am also grateful that my body is able to produce enough milk because for some others that is a challenge.
I have dealt with many occurrences of plugged ducts, especially 2-3 years ago with my middle daughter. If anyone else experiences that my Lactation consultant said that some women have a higher fat content in their milk that can make them prone to plugged ducts and that taking a Lecithin supplement can help reduce the occurrence of that. Desiree do you have any suggestions for preventing plugged ducts?
Replies to "Hello Everyone! I am Lindsey Marx, I work in the Southwest MN Region for Mayo Clinic..."
I agree - good reframe of the pumping time! While pumping itself isn't glorious, I did relish the opportunity to just sit quietly for a few minutes at day, for sure!
As for the plugged ducts, my lactation consultant had similar advice as Des gave: rotate the position of your baby to drain different portions of your breast. One of the things I found most helpful was to position the baby's chin toward the plugged duct. This has led to some creative positioning over the four kids I've BF for a year each, for sure, but totally does the trick! Directing the hot water during your shower onto the plugged duct and gently massaging the "rock" for a few minutes also helped a lot for me.
Thank you for sharing your story, Lindsey! Great advice to reframe the time you are spent pumping into a values affirmation.
The best way to prevent plugged ducts is to get the milk out, either by pumping or by baby. The biggest influence is skipped feedings or not fully draining the breast. However, some moms, like Lindsey, are getting the milk out and still having issues.
While breastfeeding, try a different position for baby to be latched. We tend to use the same position every time and switching where baby’s chin is on your breast can switch up to drain a different area more efficiently.
While pumping, compress and hold the area behind the duct as you pump (don’t rub as this can lead to blisters).
If these don’t work and you are considering taking a supplement or medication, talk to a Lactation consultant in person or call your provider. While these things can help, it can also help too much and we want to make sure we get a full history before recommending anything else.
What other tricks and tips have worked for other moms with plugged ducts?