Breastfeeding after a cesarean
Harder to start, and the difficulty is largely logistical.
Breastfeeding rates are consistently lower after cesarean, and the gap is largest at initiation. In a cohort of 3,021 births, cesarean delivery was associated with lower breastfeeding initiation, shorter duration and more difficulties in the first four months.
Much of the gap is fixable. It comes from separation, from being unable to hold the baby easily, from pain during positioning, and from delayed first contact. Skin-to-skin contact in the operating room raised early feeding from 22% to between 56% and 72% in a randomized trial.
Positions that work after surgeryThe football hold and side-lying keep the baby's weight off your incision. Ask for a lactation consultant on day one, not day three.
Where this comes from:
312. Zhang X, Wang X, Juan J, Yang H, Sobel HL, Li Z, et al. Association of duration of skin-to-skin contact after cesarean delivery in China: a superiority, multicentric randomized controlled trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2023;5(9):101033.
333. Hobbs AJ, Mannion CA, McDonald SW, Brockway M, Tough SC. The impact of caesarean section on breastfeeding initiation, duration and difficulties in the first four months postpartum. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016;16:90.
Covered in the essential classes
Continue
More from Right after
This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.