‘I got a flesh-eating disease while breastfeeding my baby – my breast turned black’

A woman developed a flesh-eating disease in her chest while breastfeeding just days after her baby’s arrival.

The 30-year-old welcomed the tot via C-section, but noticed issues in her left breast three days later, with the area feeling swollen.

But as she developed feverish symptoms over the following four days, she was rushed into hospital a week after the child’s birth for tests.

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There, doctors found the unnamed patient was suffering necrotising fasciitis – a flesh-eating disease that kills the body’s soft tissues.

The woman, who has no family history of breast-related medical issues, said she had taken painkillers for two days following the birth, but no other medications.

During the initial examination – prior to the diagnosis – doctors found the breast to be “swollen, tender and warm to the touch”, and she was still able to breastfeed from both breasts at this stage.

But an ultrasound scan found oedematous [swollen with fluid] tissue in her left breast and an irregular collection of thick fluid between tissue planes.

They initially believed she was suffering from advanced mastitis – a common issue affecting breastfeeding women, in which the breast becomes swollen, hot and painful, reports Need To Know.

The abscess in her breast was drained three days into her hospital stay, but the following day doctors found the skin around the breast was turning black – and she was diagnosed with the flesh-eating infection.

The mum was forced to stop breastfeeding as the milk was preventing the wound from draining the abscess from properly healing.

Alongside antibiotics, the wound healed throughout her hospital stay, with the infection slowly clearing up, and she was discharged after 18 days – 25 days after giving birth.

At home, the wound was managed with hypertonic saline.

The patient – who was treated in Sri Lanka – was also given psychological support as she suffered “severe post-partum blues” as a result of the condition, according to doctors.

Three months on from welcoming her child, doctors reported her breast had “completely healed” with “minimal distortion to the breast”.

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