Breastfeeding can sometimes be a painful experience. Can our midwife offer advice to ease the pain?

Raisingkids member's problem
Our daughter has just given birth to our second grandchild, a boy. He is being breastfed but his mother's nipples (normally inverted) are very painful because they are cracked and exceedingly sore. What advice can you offer?

Midwife Genevieve Kingston's Advice
When breastfeeding, nipples will only become cracked and sore if the baby is not latching on correctly. If the baby is only latching onto the nipple, it pulls and rubs which will cause trauma, which causes what has happened to your daughter.

A baby needs to take in a large part of the areola as well as the nipple to feed properly. The damage will heal if the baby latches correctly.

I wouldn't advise the use of creams as they simply make the tissue soggy and more likely to tear. Initially it can help to ensure the nipple and surrounding tissue is dry before covering up again, leaving the areas exposed to air dry after each feed can help. Ensure that no soap is used on the breasts as this will dry the skin and make them more likely to crack.

Breast pads can also contribute to the problem, if they're plastic backed they can keep the moisture in and again make the tissue soggy. Nipple shields can actually prolong the problem.

The only way to ensure healing occurs and doesn't reoccur is to ensure the baby is correctly latched for each and every feed. Make sure the baby's body is turned to his mum's tummy, nose to nipple and wait for the baby to open wide!

When he's sucking, the cheeks should be rounded, not hollowed. Experiment by sucking on one finger and then the thumb joint, in one your cheeks will pucker in, in the other your whole jaw will move. If youcan see the baby's jaw moving up by their ear, they are latched correctly.

To reduce the pain that will be there initially whist the tissue heals, try latching the baby on in different positions. This ensures that it's not the really sore bits that are being used.

And remember, if the baby is latched correctly, the nipples will heal. Being inverted makes no difference as the baby pulls them out.