Hi All - I haven't posted here before, but used to post a lot on the RNY board. Myself and another post-op were wondering about breastfeeding after RNY. I am 7 months preggo and she just gave birth but never produced colostrum or milk. 

Have any of you breastfed or tried to BF post-RNY? What was your experience? Some particulars I am thinking about are fat content of the milk (since we malabsorb) and if you were able to breastfeed as a first time mom post-op (my theory is that if you've BF'ed pre-op, the body may "remember" and it could be easier? - I don't know if that's true, just a theory..)

Any experiences would be helpful to hear! Please and thank you :)

And I do know about the Pregnancy board, I posted there also. Thanks!

Pleanty of women have successfully breastfed after RNY. Your body is going to take from you first to make sure you make your milk, it leaves you the leftover nutrients. So you need to be sure to continue your prenatal vitamin as well as consume an additional 500 calories a day (Pregnancy only requires an additional 300, lactation needs more. Also worrying about malabsorbing or lack of nutrients look at women in third world country that eat a bowl of rice a day breastfeed for years.

I am a Maternal Child RN and IBCLC certified. A lot of women "think" they don't make colostrum or milk. With the right info and support they may have hung in and seen the production increase.

I was a first time mom about 3 1/2 years after my RNY.  I ran into problems with my supply and my daughter never could latch. But with lots of supplemenation on my part I was able to pump and provide her with most of what she needed for 3 months.  I ate oatmeal three times a day with 1 tsp of fenugreek powder mixed in and also took domperidone to help increase my supply and drank Mother's Milk tea three times a day.  Even with that I was only able to produce about 20-25 oz a day through pumping.

My RNY surgeon said his experience was that post RNY many moms had a harder time producing and sustaining the supply.  However, a good friend of mine breastfeed her last baby (4 yrs post RNY) for 2 1/2 years so I think it's a completely individual thing.  I've got another friend (5+ yrs post RNY) who is currently having no problems at all breastfeeding her 4 month old.

I have a 9 month old, and I breastfed in the hospital. My milk came in two days after I delivered.

The day I left the hospital, a nurse noticed that I wasn't producing enough milk and Mischa was starving and cranky after feedings.

Three days later, at home, the milk stopped coming in and I had to switch to formula.

I'm glad I was able to do at least the first bit, so she got the colostrum, but at the same time, once I switched to formula, she started gaining weight and was never cranky again (unless you count the times she IS cranky, but they're so few and far between, they almost don't exist ;) 

If you can breastfeed, that's great - but if for some reason you can't, don't let anyone put you down or make you feel like a horrible mother. I had horrible post-partum depression that was made worse by the fact that people were making me feel like a ****ty mother due to not breastfeeding. I felt like a failure.

My ob/gyn this time around asked me right away if I was going to breastfeed, and when I said no, she said - "I wasn't breastfed, you probably weren't, and thousands of other healthy men and women were raised on formula, so don't feel bad at all. It'll make things easier on you and dad." - as a side-note, my ob/gyn now was the resident doc on call and had to deliver Mischa via emergency c-section when the doc I had at the time almost killed us. I just love her to pieces

It was explained to me that some women just can't breastfeed, and it doesn't have to be directly related to your WLS. Sometimes babies just don't "get it", and sometimes the milk just dries up.

Sorry for the rambling. Long weekend.

It's absolutely possible.

I have some lactation consultants on my FB.... if you want names?

 Thanks, names would be helpful, but I probably won't contact them unless I am not producing. Unless there is something special I should do before then to prepare? This is so confusing...

There is nothing to do to prepare unless you have flat or inverted nipples. In that case you would want to consider breast shells starting at 37 weeks. No sooner than 37 weeks though bc the subtle nipple stimulation can cause preterm labor.

Old school people might say you need to toughen up your nipples with a dry washcloth or something along those lines, not true. The best thing you can do is educate on what to expect the first few days, and to remember that you will most likely NOT see any change in your breasts until at least 72 hours postpartum. Don't let that scare you, you still have colostrum and the babies stomach capacity on day 1 is about 5 mls gradually getting bigger each day.