The Good Start Guide to Breastfeeding

Many women are concerned about their ability to nurse if they deliver by Cesarean section. With accommodations, you should be fine. One mother of a three-week-old who was born by C-section suggests having someone stay with you and the baby: "I wasn't allowed out of bed for the first twelve hours after the surgery, and it was really helpful that my husband was there to bring me the baby as soon as she needed to nurse."

Keeping your baby away from your incision and using good body posture to not stress your body further than the surgery has will also help. Lean your bed to a 45-degree angle and put a pillow on your abdomen, above your incision, to support your baby. Having your bed only slightly angled, rather than with you sitting fully upright, helps angle your baby's weight forward, onto your breast and away from your incision. The "side-lying" and "football" holds, discussed below, are also helpful positions for nursing after a C-section.