Inverted Nipple
To many, talking inverted nipples is an unheard of phenomenon. You may want to ask ‘how can a nipple be inverted?’ while some are contemplating how nipples can be inverted, others are wondering whether their nipples are inverted or not. Below is the story of Carol Gitonga who has had a difficult time breastfeeding her babies because of inverted nipple. At the time of the interview, Carol was expecting her third child, a baby girl, delivered on 7th February 2007.
She narrated her story to Emma Odaba.
I am expecting my third child and from past experience, I will not even try to breastfeed because one of my breasts has an inverted nipple. I have instructed the doctors to give me the injection that stops the flow of milk as soon as I deliver. I would have loved to breastfeed my child but after what I went through with the other-two children, I do not want to repeat the experience neither do I want my baby to go through what the other two children did.
As a child I knew I had one inverted nipple, which did not cause alarm. The fact that it was ‘odd‘ never bothered me. I got my first baby in 1998, and that is when the reality of an inverted nipple hit me. The baby would struggle to breastfeed. I would feed him with my right breast only. Since he mostly fed from the right breast, I introduced him to formula milk when he was only two months.
Then my breasts became engorged with milk and were extremely sore. My son stopped breastfeeding after he turned one year and 11 months.
My second baby was born in May 2003, and it was no better. Once again, she could only breastfeed on the right breast. The frustrating thing was that my son would struggle to suckle the left breast, but my daughter never even dared to put her mouth on it. Every time I put her mouth on my left breast she would let out a fierce scream. By the time she was two months she stopped breastfeeding altogether. I should have been relieved but instead, I was in more pain. My breasts were engorged with milk: they were so painful I would cry like a baby. The baby would cry and at the same time I would also be crying. My husband would look at us in bewilderment, wondering whom to calm down!
Expressing the milk did not help, for it would replenish just as fast. I even avoided eating for fear of ‘manufacturing’ more milk!
After the baby stopped breastfeeding at the sixth month, I started weaning her because she needed more than just milk. At about two months she had developed a condition called hernia. My daughter would cry day and night, I guess because of the pain and discomfort she was in. An emergency operation was the only solution. We were not ready for the operation so we had to go back home with her, on the advice that I massage her tummy when she was in pain. I became a regular on the corridors of a Nairobi Hospital. I was quickly losing hope and prayed to God to heal my baby. When we finally went for the doctor’s assessment, the hernia had disappeared by some miracle. My daughter got healed, and has never suffered from any complications related to the hernia.
Late last year, I was diagnosed with an abscess in my left breast and had to undergo surgery. Clotted milk had stayed in the breast for three years! It was during this time that I discovered I was expecting my third child! The pregnancy had reactivated the milk glands and had triggered the abscess. I was supposed to go for a mammogram, but my doctor has advised against it because I am pregnant. She told me that the rays emitted during the procedure may be harmful to the baby. I learned that I should not have had breast surgery to remove the abscess while pregnant.
I had suffered malaria-like symptoms and took medication for malaria. Even after completing the dose. I did not feel any better. Instead I would get nauseous particularly in the morning. A pregnancy test turned positive. That meant that by the time the doctor was treating me for malaria, I was already pregnant!
I was scared that the drugs I had taken might have harmed my baby. I expressed my fears and anxieties to my doctor who sent me for a scan. The scan showed the baby was well, and there was nothing to worry about.
I was shocked to learn that I was pregnant, because I had just quit work and therefore having an extra mouth to feed was all we thought about- but God has been faithful to us.
This pregnancy has been tiresome. I find myself eating a lot: I eat foods I never liked before like margarine, cocoa and watermelon. I also take more water than before. I dislike red meat, especially when on display or when I see it being cut. I cannot stand the smell of cigarettes though this has been there in my life. My husband, who smokes, knows this and therefore smokes outside the house. I also want plenty of fresh air, and avoid stuffy places. When I get into a matatu, I usually sit by an open window. I have been lethargic about attending antenatal clinics: I went for my first one at 25 weeks.
My love life has been romantic all through. My husband and I were high school sweethearts. We met when I was in form one and he was in form three. We became friends and after high school, I moved in with him. We had a traditional marriage in 2002.
Doctor’s Note:
An inverted nipple, means the tip of the nipple is drawn inside instead of outside. It can not fit into the mouth of the baby. The baby can thus not suckle, or suckles with difficulty. Milk accumulates in the breasts, making them engorged or painful. If there is an infection, the breast becomes inflamed, red and even more swollen and tender.
Inverted nipples can be congenital, or can result from fibrosis- after an infection of past breast surgery. It can be corrected with surgery, or with the use of medical appliances to stimulate nipple development.
Baby Makena Kariuki. She weighed 3.2 kilograms at birth on 7th February 2007
END: BL 07/56-57