Fever per se is not a reason against breastfeeding. However, in individual cases it depends on why the mother has a fever. If a woman has a slight flu-like infection, she can continue breastfeeding her baby without hesitation and should only pay more attention to simple hygiene measures such as frequent hand washing. However, if the mother has a fever due to a serious consuming illness that requires special drug therapy, she may not be allowed to breastfeed her child for the duration of treatment. In general, affected women should consult their gynaecologist if they are unsure whether or not they can continue breastfeeding their child.
May I take a temperature and nurse?
In principle, mothers with fever are allowed to breastfeed. From a purely objective point of view, a fever is in itself only an increase in body temperature above an average normal level and not an illness. Rather, it should be seen as an indication or symptom of an illness.
If a fever occurs alone, breastfeeding women do not need to worry about whether or not they can continue breastfeeding. As long as they do not classify themselves as seriously ill, mothers can and should breastfeed their babies, as experience shows that the child, just like the mother, has come into contact with the pathogenic bacteria or viruses and valuable antibodies and trace elements are transmitted by the mother through breast milk. It only becomes critical when other symptoms such as painful swelling and redness on the breast appear.
A nursing mother should then go to a gynaecologist and have a specialist check whether further breastfeeding with the affected breast is still possible or not. Self-experiments with regard to therapy should be avoided, as the glandular tissue of the breast is very sensitive to bacteria and external manipulation during breastfeeding. In addition, the breast is the contact point for the baby, where it absorbs the maternal pathogens of the normal skin flora with its mouth.
If this is changed by an infection or by the child applying ointment on its own, the child is exposed to an unnecessarily high pathogen load or foreign substances. Another reason against breastfeeding in case of fever is the simultaneous intake of medication. Especially when treating a bacterial infection with antibiotics, the woman should pump out and discard the milk, as the active substance can pass into the breast milk.
Depending on the age of the child, breast milk can then be dangerous for the affected child, as its liver may not yet be fully developed and cannot metabolise the active substance. The effect on the child would therefore be potentially toxic or, in other words, damaging to the organs. A substitute milk should therefore be given for the duration of the intake.
However, regular pumping of the breast milk is very important, despite its rejection, so that breastfeeding can continue after the end of the therapy. For example, if a nursing woman does not pump for the duration of antibiotic therapy (up to about a week), milk production will stop. Even breastfeeding again cannot increase milk production.
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