Perioperative Care of the Breastfeeding Patient

ABSTRACT Nurses providing surgical care in nonobstetrical ambulatory surgery centers or specialty hospitals without traditional lactation resources may need to care for patients who are breastfeeding. Nurses in these settings play an important role in supporting and protecting the breastfeeding relationship for nursing mothers separated from their infants during illness or surgical procedures. It is important for care providers to understand how hospitalization and the medications administered before, during, and after a surgical procedure affect mothers who are breastfeeding their infants. This article examines the effects of hospitalization on breastfeeding and focuses on preoperative and postoperative care considerations, including medication use, radiology imaging, interrupting and resuming breastfeeding, breast assessment, and milk storage.