It is important to let your Consultant Surgeon and Anaesthesiologist know that you are breastfeeding. Please remember your Anaesthesiologist is happy to meet you prior to your surgery if your questions are not fully answered here.

Do I need to stop breastfeeding around the time of my surgery?

Current guidelines support breastfeeding as soon as you are able to hold your baby comfortably after your surgery. Nearly all drugs used during sedation and anaesthesia will pass into your breastmilk but the quantities are small and will not affect your baby. It is largely felt the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any small risk posed by the drugs. How soon you can breastfeed will be dictated by your surgery, so as soon as you feel up to breastfeeding you will be encouraged to do so.

Breastfeeding and Local Anaesthesia:

For localised procedures your surgery can be performed awake, and all sedating drugs and fasting can usually be avoided.

Breastfeeding and Regional Anaesthesia:

An area of the body can be “blocked” by injecting local anaesthetics around a nerve or a group of nerves. Your Anaesthesiologist can numb your whole arm or your legs, so it may be possible to have your surgery without sedation. You will still need to fast for this type of anaesthesia (see below fasting guidelines).

Breastfeeding and Sedation:

Drugs are given to help you relax during your procedure and these drugs will also help you to forget the procedure. Sedation is often used in conjunction with local anaesthesia. It is safe to breastfeed as soon as you can hold your baby.

Breastfeeding and General Anaesthesia:

You will be fully asleep during your procedure. Again, it is safe to breastfeed as soon as you can hold your baby.

Pain relief:

Your anaesthesiologist will prescribe painkillers to help with any postoperative pain. It is important to take pain killers as prescribed as pain will make it difficult to care for your baby and will also make it difficult to breastfeed.

Regional anaesthesia (see above) will greatly reduce the need for pain killers in the period after your surgery. Paracetamol and Ibuprofen are safe as minimal amounts are transferred to your baby in breastmilk. Opioids (morphine, codeine, fentanyl, oxynorm) are strong pain killers which have side effects like nausea, constipation and drowsiness. Although opioids are passed into breast milk, the amount present is very small.

It is important to note that the benefits of maternal comfort and pain relief outweigh the minimal risks to babies. Codeine-containing pain killers should be avoided if breastfeeding. It is worth noting some over-the-counter (OTC) medications contain codeine, so please check with your pharmacist before you take any OTC medications while breastfeeding.

If strong pain killers are necessary, your Anaesthesiologist will most likely choose morphine, but doses will be kept to a minimum. If breastfeeding and taking opioids, please pay close attention to the infant as opioids can cause your baby to become drowsy.