Chemotherapy eventually drew to an end my journey as a breastfeeding cancer patient. This made me very sad. I felt that the decision of when I stopped breastfeeding my child had been taken away from me.Although it was a necessary evil, it would have helped to have had a discussion about it with my medical team, or been signposted to services that could help me through the process.
What you need to know
- When treating a new mother, consider the needs of the mother and baby as a whole, including breastfeeding support
- The breastfeeding network drug fact sheet offers advice for breastfeeding in relation to treatments and investigations
- If a mother has recently stopped breastfeeding, check that any medications you prescribe do not promote lactation
- When might you create a plan to support a mother to continue breastfeeding throughout her treatment or hospital stay?
- What information or resources could you share?
- How could you support a mother who has to be separated from her baby during treatment?
https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1284
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 