One of the biggest aims of All Things Breastfeeding is to provide trustworthy breastfeeding information and advice, specifically aimed at South African moms. We know that our systems – our healthcare system, workplace environments and social networks – are not always breastfeeding friendly, despite everyone proclaiming that breast is best.
We hope to compensate in some small way for this by providing information content that moms can use to help them cope with their breastfeeding challenges. And its not all about challenges; breastfeeding can be a beautiful experience that you can celebrate and enjoy!
Enjoy reading, and do let us know if you have a topic that you would like to read more about.
‘I’ve never felt that terrible before’, is usually the reply one receives when asking a breastfeeding mom about her bout of mastitis. Mastitis is the name for a collective group of symptoms/conditions linked to inflammation of breast tissue in a breastfeeding mother. In 2022 the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine updated their protocol on the management of mastitis and related conditions, completely changing how we view and treat these. Please note that this feature is part of our series on ‘[...]
Few moms will search for ‘breast oedema’, or even be interested in it, so I assume your reached this page via our features on engorgement and mastitis. If so, you are probably not feeling great right now. Occasionally full, sore breasts in the early days may be caused by too much fluid in the breasts, and not by too much milk. This is called breast oedema, or swelling. It is most likely to happen if mom received lot of intravenous[...]
In 2022 the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Brought out a new protocol, Clinical Protocol #36, on managing the mastitis spectrum. This protocol has replaced previous ones and completely changed how we look at engorgement, mastitis and other breast tissue complications like breast abscesses and plugged ducts. Please note that this is part of our series on ‘ The Updated Protocols on Engorgement, Mastitis and Breast Tissue Complications’. Please click here to visit the main article in the series, which will[...]
In 2022 the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine brought out Clinical Protocol #36, an updated protocol on managing the mastitis spectrum. This protocol has replaced previous ones and completely changed how we look at engorgement, mastitis and other breast tissue complications like breast abscesses and plugged ducts. Before I continue I want to thank and give credit to my colleague Christine Swanepoel, a SACLC and All Things Breastfeeding breast pump demo centre consultant in Boksburg. She has done an amazing job[...]
Hand expressing is a worthwhile skill for any mom to learn. Note though, that like most other skills it is something that you develop. Many mothers try once or twice and then decide that this is not working, while meanwhile they just needed to practice a bit more. For that matter, this is also the case when using a breast pump. Hand expressing is especially useful under these circumstances: Engorgement and mastitis often responds better to hand expressing than to[...]
