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Skin to Skin: The Bond Created between Mother and Baby through “Breastfeeding”

“Breastfeeding saves lives” and “Breast is best!” are well-known slogans for physicians and women. Putting the new-born to the breast to nurse is now considered “normative” in the United States with 75% of women doing so. Unfortunately, breastfeeding as a way to continue to feed infants is not yet normative. Women do not choose to breastfeed as long as recommended by health experts and the government, which may result in a missed opportunity for improving infant health and, at the same time, maternal health. 
But what when it comes to breastfeeding during cancer treatment??
Caring for a new born baby can be stressful. So can going through breast cancer treatment. But juggling both at the same time? This invites an entirely new level of anxiety.
Breast cancer occurs in about 1 in 3,000 pregnancies and is the most common type of cancer diagnosed during pregnancy, after birth while breastfeeding, or within a year of delivery. The good news is that breast cancer doesn’t appear to harm your unborn baby. However, cancer treatment may interfere with your plans to breastfeed afterward.
Most doctors recommend women who are about to be treated for breast cancer stop (or not begin) breastfeeding, a heart-breaking directive for many new mothers. But you may not have to give up breastfeeding forever.
Here are some points to help them to know what to expect women have approach treatment (covering chemotherapy, surgery and radiation) and to give ladies peace of mind that they’re keeping their baby safe while taking care of your own health.
Is It Safe to Breastfeed During Chemotherapy?

No. For the safety of the baby, breastfeeding isn’t recommended during chemotherapy. Many chemotherapy drugs, especially cyclophosphamide and methotrexate, may appear in high levels in breast milk and could potentially harm your nursing baby.
To protect their breastfeeding child, they may choose to wean their baby prior to beginning chemotherapy. They may also decide to pump during chemotherapy and throw away the milk. By pumping, they will continue producing milk so you can resume breastfeeding once their oncologist assures them it’s safe to do so.

Should ladies Breastfeed Before and Immediately after Surgery?

No. If they’re planning to have surgery for breast cancer, stop breastfeeding in order to reduce blood flow to their breasts. This reduces the risk of infection and also helps prevent breast milk from collecting in the biopsy or surgery areas.
If they’re nursing, they may want to pump before they have surgery and store a supply of breast milk. This way, they’ll be able to continue feeding your baby breast milk while they’re separated during surgery and recovery. They may need to wait a little while after surgery to resume breastfeeding, because the anesthesia may get into your breast milk and harm your baby. Ask their surgeon how long the anesthesia will stay in their body and when they can safely go back to breastfeeding.

Can they Breastfeed during Radiation?

May be. Ask oncologist whether it’s safe to breastfeed while undergoing radiation. Breastfeeding during radiation may be safe, depending on what type of radiation receiving and what part of body is being treated. External beam radiation is usually safe for nursing mothers unless getting chemotherapy concurrently. There are exceptions to this rule, however, so be sure to consult oncologist.
As for internal radiation, it may be dangerous to their baby while they’re breastfeeding, so again, talk to oncologist.

Will their Baby’s Health Suffer when they don’t Breastfeed?

Probably not. Many women feel guilty if they can’t breastfeed and may worry that their baby’s health or intellectual development will suffer as a result. But the current research on the effects of breastfeeding is inconclusive. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all infants be fed only breast milk for the first six months due to the nutritional superiority of breast milk to infant formula. However, one 2014 study of 1,773 sibling pairs — one fed breast milk and one fed formula — found no significant differences between the breast-fed and bottle-fed babies on any of the 11 measures of health (including obesity and asthma) and intellectual competency (including math ability and memory-based intelligence).

Talk with pediatrician for any concerns about baby’s health while undergoing breast cancer treatment. If breastfeeding is going to pose too much risk to your baby, ask pediatrician to recommend an infant formula.

“And remember ladies; don’t let guilt get in the way of your recovery and being there for your child, now and for many years to come.”

Pamela Acker | Program Manager | BreCeCan 2018
Email: breastcervical@oncologymeeting.org

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