pregnancy & new baby By Tiffany Brown* mastitis:top 5 natural ways to avoid or treat mastitis Breastfeeding is indeed a labour of love, with one in three of us lactating mums suffering from mastitis at some point as a consequence of our commitment. Mastitis is an infection of breast tissue caused by a blockage in one of the milk ducts. What can we do at home to avoid or treat it? Mastitis may arise from poor feeding if your suckling baby done with an infant to care for, but now is the time to enlist she doesn’t get into bad habits. If a blockage occurs, try is incorrectly latched. This creates uneven milk flow, and in help. Take to your bed and give your body a chance to do changing feeding positions to encourage milk flow. If at all turn can cause a blockage. Oversupply or gaps in your its best for you. possible, direct baby’s chin towards the blocked area. Using feeding schedule may also cause the problem, as milk the ‘football’ hold, lying sideways or even leaning forward over collects and puts pressure on the ducts. Pressure on the 3. massage and heat baby can all help stimulate flow and ease milk duct breasts (for instance, from wearing a poorly-fitting bra) may congestion. Take a look at your clothing and make sure you Applying heat to the area can promote drainage of the haven’t been wearing anything too constricting that might be also result in a mastitis infection, as might over-tiredness affected duct, so get a wheat bag or hot water bottle onto causing blocked ducts. and low immunity. your breast between feeds. Very gently massage the The infection can cause you pain, swelling and redness of area, starting at the rim of the hard lump – the affected area, severe flu-like symptoms such as you could do this in a hot shower also. If possible, continue headache, fever and shivers, and usually accelerates quickly. the gentle massage Beware of secondary infections such as Very commonly, the prescribed remedy is a course of while baby is feeding. thrush (yeast/fungal infection). This painful antibiotics to treat the infection; in the worst case scenario, condition can cause inflammation within the you may end up in hospital. 4. diet milk ducts which increases the risk of plugged ducts or mastitis. You should get it Several natural remedies may be effective as alternatives Vitamin C supplements can be very helpful for mums checked by your doctor to help break the to antibiotics. The key to the success of any mastitis suffering with recurrent blocked ducts or mastitis. The treatment is to detect any problems as early as possible; so dosage needs to be higher than the standard daily cycle. Probiotics and raw garlic (with it’s keep a close watch on your breasts. recommendation to be effective, so you should check with a strong antifungal and antibiotic properties) naturopath before taking. are also recommended. A blocked milk duct causes a slight hardening of the breast Many mums have found that taking lecithin tissue. This feels similar to the sensation of fullness when If you experience no relief from the above (a dietary supplement available from the pharmacy) can help bubs is overdue a feed although tends to be localised, and suggestions, or if the symptoms worsen to resolve recurrent blocked ducts. It is also essential to remains even after she has had a vigorous suckle. Another within 2-3 days, don’t wait to seek help. make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, and to reduce the reliable indicator of blocked ducts is visible redness of the Some antibiotics are better than others in amount of saturated fat in your diet. area. terms of their compatibility with Humble garlic is a powerful healing agent, with antiviral, breastfeeding, so ask your doctor for If you notice either of these signs, give the following antifungal and antibiotic properties. Contrary to what you reassurance the appropriate brand is being remedies a try straight away. Any or all of them may work might expect, garlic’s distinctive odour doesn’t appear to prescribed for you. to clear away a milk duct blockage naturally and effectively. bother most nursing babies and in fact studies have shown it may actually encourage them to nurse longer. To work 1. feed, feed, feed effectively as a natural antibiotic you need to eat it raw. The upside is that, unlike medically-prescribed antibiotics, garlic It may seem counter-intuitive to put baby to a sore, won’t destroy the healthy bacteria in your body while it inflamed breast, but encouraging her to suckle frequently doing its healing work. Try to eat at least 3-4 cloves of will help the milk to keep flowing. If possible, feed garlic a day, crushing them and leaving them to oxidize for exclusively from the affected breast. If you choose or need ten minutes before eating. Can’t stomach the thought of to skip feeds, keep your milk flowing by expressing that munching on fresh garlic? Disguise it in a sweet smoothie milk as fully as possible each time. with honey, yoghurt and Nutella, or prepare a savoury vegetable juice with a couple of tomatoes, some lemon 2. rest juice and a little sea salt. Mastits is an infection like any other; your body becomes a battleground between the invading organism and your 5. change position *Tiffany is a freelance writer. Natural parenting and food natural defence force. To give your immunity a fighting Blocked milk ducts often occur because baby is incorrectly are two of the topics regularly featured on her blog http:// chance, rest as much as possible. Perhaps easier said than latched. Keep a close eye on her during feeding to ensure zigzagutopia.wordpress.com..