Abstract
Breastfeeding women may develop a number of breast disorders during the postpartum period. Such disorders could involve masses of varying sizes, breastmilk secretion anomalies and painful-inflammatory or infectious conditions. Though very few of these conditions may be absolute contraindications to breastfeeding, they are however a significant source of worry for newly delivered women and may disrupt the breastfeeding process. This survey aimed to investigate breast anomalies in women with inadequate breastfeeding practices. We conducted a cross-sectional study from December 2018 to May 2019 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obtetric and Paediatric Hospital. Mothers with livebirth neonate infants weighing > 2000g and with no initial contraindication to breastfeeding were included. A total of 250 mothers were enrolled in the survey. Delivery was eutocic in 230 (92%) women and 199 (79.6%) had the intension to exclusively breastfeed their babies. The state of the neonates was satisfactory in 204 (96%) deliveries. However, inadequate breastfeeding was noted in 153 mothers (61.2%), with breast pathologies occurring in 85 women (55.5%), among which 24 (28.2%) had secretion anomalies predominated by quantitative disorders. Painful inflammatory and/or infectious conditions occurred in 58 women (69.4%) including nipple crevices, breast engorgement, inverted nipples, mastitis and abscess. All women with obvious or supposed breast disorders had inadequate breastfeeding practices. Therefore, painful breast pathologies and secretion disorders should firstly be investigated in women with eutocic delivery, who are willing to breastfeed, but unable to do so adequately. More so, these pathologies are essentially benign and may be prevented by good hygiene, adequate breastfeeding techniques such as proper nipple and areolar positioning into the baby’s mouth.
Highlights
Inadequate breastfeeding may be defined as a process characterized by either a delayed initiation, unexclusiveness, ineffectiveness, briefness or short lasting breastfeeding
Painful inflammatory and/or infectious conditions occurred in 58 women (69.4%) including nipple crevices, breast engorgement, inverted nipples, mastitis and abscess
There are considerable physiological changes occurring in the postpartum period which may favor breast pathologies
Summary
Inadequate breastfeeding may be defined as a process characterized by either a delayed initiation, unexclusiveness, ineffectiveness, briefness or short lasting breastfeeding. Even though there is considerable effort put in place especially in developing countries to Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care 2020; 6(3): 87-90 improve breastfeeding practices, there are some particular conditions, including breast disorders that may hinder the process [3]. Breast pathologies may either be benign, malignant, inflammatory, infectious or a combination of various process [7]. Benign focal masses involve fibroadenomas, lactating adenomas, galactoceles and papillomas, while breast adenocarcinoma is the most frequent malignant tumor [7]. This survey aimed at enquiring the most frequent breast disorders in women with inadequate breastfeeding practices in our context
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