Hope For The Breast

Mastitis is an unpleasant, sometimes very painful, condition. Our lactation consultant Darol Wilmot has some tips to sooth your discomfort

- Darol Wilmot

MASTITIS IS A BENIGN (NON-dangerous) and self-limiting condition (resolves spontaneously with or without specific treatment) of the breast, commonly occurring in the first three to six months of breastfeeding.

Because the symptoms can be masked by other similar, common ones—and just general lack of sleep—it’s important to be aware of this condition. If the new mom has mastitis, she could experience fatigue, localised breast tenderness, headache, muscle aches, and general flu-like symptoms. This will typically soon be followed by fever; hot, red, tender areas on one or both breasts; and a rapid pulse.

The infection usually occurs on one breast, generally around the upper outer breast quadrant where there is dense tissue; it can, however, involve both breasts. It’s absolutely imperative that when a mother feels this starting, she empty the breast. Wake up baby to feed as often as possible; it’s quite safe for baby to continue feeding throughout mastitis—even though baby may be a little fussier, as the mastitic milk usually has elevated sodium levels, so it tastes a bit salty. What’s so incredible is that during this mastitis period, the milk composition changes, increasing its anti-inflammatory components to protect baby while consuming this milk.