Q: Hi Doc. I am a breastfeeding mom and l have discovered l have a painful lump in one of my breasts, Could it be cancer? Should l stop breastfeeding?

A: Painful lumps in the breasts of breastfeeding mums may be blocked milk ducts. Usually your milk ducts block if you’re making milk faster than you’re expressing it and indeed you should feel some relief every time you breastfeed from that breast…so stopping breastfeeding may just be making a bad matter already worse

What causes this milk duct to block? It could be that your baby is not latching on well to the breast and thus not sucking enough from that breast. It could be that you don’t feel well and are not feeding baby often enough, or you decided to wean baby suddenly. Other causes include tight nursing bra, sleeping on your tummy, a nursing pump that’s not powerful…