Fitness and healthy lifestyle 

Do I need to pump my breasts after every feed? Do I need to pump after every feed? A question that worries many young mothers. Important rules for expressing breast milk

Perspectives on breastfeeding recent times have undergone significant changes. Now fundamental principle is feeding on demand, and not according to the regimen as before. This approach allows the child to eat at any time, stimulating the breast to produce required amount milk. However, situations in life are different. But what if lactation after childbirth can not be established in any way? Does it need to be pumped for this? Is it even possible to answer the question of whether it is necessary to express milk after each feeding unambiguously positively or negatively in the changed realities? Let's try to understand this article.

Feeding on demand and pumping

If a woman has milk left after feeding, then this will inevitably lead to mastitis - this thesis justified pumping, which was previously popular among women in labor. Complete feeding simply not represented without complete emptying of the chest. After all, without milk residues, the threat of developing such complications as swelling of the breast, an abscess disappeared. However, few people thought about exactly how it affects the whole.

female body does not distinguish whether the milk was eaten by the child, or in this case the breast pump worked. The body gives a clear command to fill the mammary glands useful product so that the baby does not experience a lack of nutrition. On the one hand, this is good, but only if the entire volume of milk is really consumed for the baby, otherwise there is no point in decanting.

In addition, there are a lot of negative points in unreasonable pumping:

  • a woman spends energy on pumping instead of resting;
  • running hyperlactation is much more difficult to stop than to stimulate;
  • when decanting, the child receives, which has less nutritional value;
  • after pumping, there is a risk of getting ugly breasts with stretch marks;
  • starting pumping, you need not to miss the next moments, so as not to provoke stagnation of milk, there is a dependence on pumping, which is not always comfortable.

Important! For most women, pumping is not necessary.

The study physiological processes, including lactation, made it possible today to take a fresh look at the need for pumping. If previously there were clear recommendations for feeding through certain time, then on this moment the motto - feeding on demand - justifies itself one hundred percent. Only with this approach it is possible to organize the correct, and most importantly - comfortable feeding for both mother and baby.

Timed feeding is a vestige of the former health care system. If the child wants to eat in an hour, and then sleeps and does not require food for another five hours, then it is not at all necessary to wake him up and persistently offer the breast. Only if the child wants to eat, the breast should be emptied and then filled with exactly the portion of milk that was eaten.

When to Express

Needless to say that not everything is so good and cloudless in Everyday life. lactation is one of those important points when there is a need to endure inconvenience for the sake of the child. Therefore, expressing milk after feeding on demand may be due to the following reasons:

  • forced separation from a child, when a woman wants to maintain lactation and does not plan to transfer the baby to artificial feeding;
  • at birth premature, underweight baby, which needs more than other children, the intake of an additional amount of nutrients;
  • if the baby for some reason cannot suckle at the breast (for example, herpetic infection on the mucous membrane of the mouth);
  • if the mother needs to take medications that are not compatible with lactation - in this case, you can express a certain amount of milk, and start drug treatment;
  • with a temporarily forced break, but the desire to continue lactation in the future (for example, in case of illness);
  • in the event of cracks in the nipples, anatomically flat or inverted nipples;
  • if the child is impaired sucking reflex.

The main purpose of pumping in such cases is to maintain lactation in the future. After all mother's milk- this is best nutrition for the child and no other product or mixture can replace the one that the baby receives from the mother. In this case, pumping allows you to provide the baby with food, and protect the mother from possible complications- mastitis, and abscess.

You need to understand that such circumstances are rather exceptions to the rules, force majeure, which does not happen to every woman, but requires right approach to the situation.

Video about the need to pump after feeding a baby

The question of whether it is necessary to express breast milk after feeding worries, if not all, then most young mothers. Opinions on this score are radically divided.

A few years ago, doctors believed that pumping was necessary, but today experts assure that there is no need for this and that this process must be approached very carefully.

From this article you will learn:

Interestingly, in nature, mammals do not get rid of excess milk that babies have not drunk. Therefore, it is reasonable to ask why people should express it in such a case. Isn't it easier to trust nature?

The mother's breast produces as much milk as the baby needs. Failures are possible only in the first days after the baby is born, since the body has not yet received a signal about how much milk needs to be produced. However, after a few days, this process normalizes, and endocrine system regulates the amount produced by the mother's body baby food.

If you fully express milk after feeding, the body will receive a signal that it needs to produce more. It turns out vicious circle.

However, if you feel discomfort and feel that your chest is as if petrified, then you need to remove the excess a little. But just enough to feel relieved.

However, there are situations when it is absolutely necessary to resort to this procedure. And this is not only the first days after childbirth, but also in other cases.

Let's consider them in more detail:

  • If the baby does not want to or there are some other reasons why he cannot take the breast. Then you have to express in order to subsequently feed the baby. This can be done with a syringe, with a spoon and in other ways. In this case, pumping maintains normal lactation.
  • If you are sick and temporarily unable to breastfeed your baby, then you need to express so as not to lose milk later. It is much easier to save it now than to try to restore it later.
  • Sometimes there is hyperlactation, that is, the body produces milk excessively - much more than the baby needs. But in this case, it is worth first of all to understand the causes of hyperlactation and undergo an examination. Sometimes just excessive pumping after feeding a newborn leads to hyperlactation. Therefore, this process must be slowly slowed down. For example, use the so-called "mode pumping", that is, do not remove milk residues after feeding at night, and then gradually abandon such a procedure after daytime feedings.
  • If, for some reason, mother and baby cannot spend the first days after birth together, then difficulties may arise. So, in medical medical institutions often the baby is brought to the mother strictly according to the schedule, for example, every 2 or 3 hours. But at such moments, the baby does not always feel the need for food, he can simply fall asleep during feeding, and be hungry in between. This is also bad for the mother, as there may be a shortage of milk or its excess production. Then, for relief, you need to express a little.

Beware of lactose!

Lactostasis is a blockage milk duct. As you know, a woman's breasts are divided into lobes, and each lobe has ducts. Sometimes it happens that the duct is pinched and because of this there is a plug that does not allow milk to come out. Then there is swelling and pain. When pressed, you can see that milk comes out of one part of the nipple more slowly than from the other or does not come out at all.

Lactostasis can occur due to a violation of feeding or due to chapping of the chest. Often it is accompanied by a slight increase in temperature and reminds of a feeling of heaviness. Sometimes the reason is:

  • tight bra
  • sleep on stomach
  • squeezing the breast during feeding, that is, in fact, improper feeding.
  • nipple anomalies
  • stress, lack of sleep
  • injuries, bruises
  • inadequate fluid intake.

As you can see, there are many reasons, so no one is immune from this disease. If you have such symptoms, then expressing your breast after feeding is not only possible, but also necessary.

You can put the baby to the breast more often, for example, once an hour. If the baby has a good appetite, then within a day you will feel relief. Or you can additionally express 2-3 times a day, but not more, as this can provoke increased milk production, and again there is a risk of blockage of the ducts.

If you do not express and do not apply the baby to the breast, then lactostasis passes into the next stage - mastitis.

By the way, if your temperature rises at the same time, this will not affect the quality of milk, so you can safely put the baby to the breast a little more often.

How to properly pump after breastfeeding

It can be done different ways. Once upon a time, this could only be done with your hands - our mothers and grandmothers still remember this. This method requires some skill and time. Today, the breast pump is much more popular.

Devices are also divided into types and are:

  • mechanical;
  • electric.

They are much easier to use. Before the procedure, wash your hands, wipe your chest sanitary napkin lightly massage your breasts and nipples. Place the nipple into the pump so that the nipple is in the very center.

If the unit mechanical, then your task is to constantly press the knob, and if you chose electrical model, it will be enough to press the button and adjust the pumping force on the device.

After use, it is necessary to completely disassemble the device, rinse it in warm water and disinfect. However, this is not difficult to do, since modern breast pumps are as simplified as possible in terms of design.

If you do not yet have sufficient dexterity, it is recommended that you seek the help of a consultant on breastfeeding. Just one consultation will be enough for you, and in the future you will be able to quickly and correctly express milk after feeding the newborn on your own.

“If you want to breastfeed, don’t be lazy and express milk after each feeding!” - for many decades, doctors professed this doctrine, believing that it is prerequisite good lactation and breast health in the future. Confidence to pump breast milk was so great that mothers spent all the time on it from one feeding to another, complicating their lives.

Do I need to express milk?

The myth about the total benefits of diligent pumping of breast milk is based on the observation that if you “take” all the milk from the breast to the last drop, then more will come. But this rule has other characteristics as well. Firstly, it works only with a single use: if, after the morning feeding, the mother expresses her breast to the last drop, then the next day there will really be more milk. If the woman does not repeat the procedure, the volume will gradually return to normal anyway. The second circumstance: when the baby himself suckles the breast, the amount of milk formed and eaten is approximately the same. Expressing valuable liquid, a woman breaks the natural balance between the need of the child and the amount of milk produced. They always express more than the baby would eat, so to next feeding too much milk will come, the breast will overflow, but the baby will still not eat more than he needs. If you do not express the remnants, there will be a threat of lactostasis. Mom sets to work, and in response to her efforts, milk will again come more than necessary.

A vicious circle of expressing breast milk will form, which cannot be broken painlessly. Milk, not demanded by the child, is a signal for the pituitary gland to reduce the production of hormones responsible for breastfeeding. The answer will be to reduce the amount of "baby food". Noticing that there is less milk, the mother takes measures: she spends even more time pumping, stretches out the breaks between feedings in order to “accumulate milk”, introduces supplementary feeding ...

As a result, the child suckles even less, and the mammary gland is deprived of the natural necessary stimulation. The normal feeding scenario is violated, and the baby gradually becomes artificial ... The conclusion is obvious: continuous pumping is fraught with complications, and it is better not to start it. It leads to the stagnation of unclaimed milk, which threatens the health of the mammary glands, and prevents normal lactation.

When should you express breast milk?

But it is not worth excluding pumping breast milk completely from the life of a young mother. A normal breastfeeding cycle for a baby lasts at least 1 year. During this period, a nursing mother will more than once find herself in circumstances where pumping is indispensable. More often than others, three situations are repeated, and each involves its own pumping tactics.

History first. First arrival of milk.

Usually milk appears in the breast on the third day after childbirth. And it is not always possible to guess how much it will come. Sometimes the receipts are so great that most of them remain unclaimed by the newborn and complicate the life of his mother, who has not yet recovered from childbirth. A woman's breasts increase in size, become heavy, if you press on the glands, pain is felt, they lose their usual softness and become rough. If measures are not taken in time, inflammation develops: the temperature rises, health worsens.

What to do? With breast engorgement, a compress from cabbage leaves. It has a cooling effect by absorbing vapors from the surface of the skin. wash warm water several large fresh leaves cabbage and cover the entire gland with them for about an hour. The next point of help should be a gentle massage and pumping. One or two sessions will soften the breast, helping to normalize milk production.

Since at the time of the rapid arrival of milk, the breast becomes very painful at the slightest touch, one must prepare for pumping. Start by massaging the least affected areas, gradually expanding the area of ​​influence. Try to relax, take long exhalations - this will help bring the mammary gland out of the state of "shock", then the elastic muscle tubes - the milk ducts - will begin to contract more actively, and the milk will flow by itself.

After 7-10 minutes of massage, try to place your fingers with a pinch on the areola and squeeze and unclench them rhythmically several times. If a drop of milk stands out, start pumping - manually or with a breast pump, if not - continue the massage.

When expressing milk with your hands, place your palm with four fingers under your chest so that the index is on the areola below, and the thumb is on top. When you squeeze all your fingers, the nipple should move forward. Now lift your chest, press it to chest and squeeze and unclench your fingers around the areola several times. If milk leaks, continue pumping until the flush stops. To ensure that the lobules of the gland are emptied evenly, move your fingers around the circumference of the areola.

Important details. Pumping with a breast pump has important advantage: the resulting product is easier to save, because the milk goes directly into a sterile bottle or bag for freezing milk. When working with hands, a certain amount of valuable liquid is sprayed. Trying to express milk for the future, do not get carried away. Too much pumping will lead to the fact that tomorrow there will be even more milk, and you will wake up again with painful breasts.

The second story. Stagnation of milk leads to lactostasis.

First, the mother discovers a small lump in her chest, which, when pressed, hurts, as many women say, like a bruise. With lactostasis, the milk ducts, which are supposed to push milk out, lose their elasticity and stop contracting. No more fluid is formed than usual, but it cannot come out. If you do not take action, redness will appear. If you continue to do nothing, mastitis will begin - inflammation of the mammary gland.

What to do? Excellent tool for the treatment of lactostasis - is all the same pumping. It must begin with a similar chest massage - it will soften the seal, restore blood flow in the stagnation zone and activate sluggish ducts. Painful sensations should be avoided: the answer to pain will be an even greater spasm of the ducts and aggravated lactostasis. The entire gland should be massaged - not much, but rather deeply. First, make several stroking movements along the gland from the periphery to the nipple, lift it up, tap with your fingers from below, from the side, approaching a particularly sore spot. So that the fingers glide better and do not injure delicate skin apply nipple cream on them.


Important details. It is necessary to move on to pumping itself when you feel a surge of milk (usually this causes heaviness, itching, tingling in the chest) or you see that it has begun to drip. You can express manually into a wide bowl, leaning over a low table: this way the chest is in a position that stimulates outflow.

History the third. The child is not gaining weight

The baby is already a month old, he sucks normally, and nothing bothers his mother. But on the very first visit to the doctor, it turns out that in a month the baby almost did not gain weight. It turns out that he does not have enough food and urgently needs supplementary feeding? The reason for the misunderstanding is that an inexperienced mother cannot always determine when her baby is just sucking her breast like a pacifier, and when she is eating. She does not notice that the baby is just lying with a nipple in her mouth, smacking her lips, and does not swallow anything. This behavior forms a sluggish milk order. If you put up with this tactic, then pretty soon the chest will empty, the baby will turn away from it, and lactation will stop almost immediately.

What to do? Milk is released in waves in response to the suckling of the breast by the baby. It is advisable not to allow long breaks between tides. If the baby falls asleep at the breast, shake it up, raise it to a vertical position for a few seconds, offer one or the other breast. To activate the flow of milk, you have to spend free time for stimulating massage and pumping. At first, these procedures should be taken several hours a day: 3-4 sessions of 30-45 minutes will be required. After a few days you will notice an improvement and the duration can be shortened. During massage and pumping, you should be comfortable: sit comfortably, turn on calm music, tune in to pleasant thoughts about the baby. Breast massage - stroking, shaking, tapping - should be alternated with squeezing-unclenching the nipple for 1 minute. As soon as the gland becomes soft, express some milk and start feeding.

Important details. It is not your job to pump a large number milk, save the main portion for the child. After all his efforts, he would surely be able to finally dine on his own.

If the mother managed to collect milk by expressing it as needed, then sooner or later she will be able to create freezer own " milk bank". The product will definitely come in handy when you need to leave for a long time or take medicine that is incompatible with breastfeeding.

It is worth preparing for the rapid arrival of milk. A day after the birth of the baby, fluid intake should be limited - drink a little and only non-carbonated water. Soups, tea, compotes exacerbate thirst. When milk production returns to normal, the bans can be lifted.

Every mother knows how much benefit babies, and especially newborns, breast milk brings. The most important advantage of this type of feeding over artificial is the activation of the baby's immune forces. Breast milk is also absolutely sterile and always warmed up to desired temperature, which greatly simplifies the nutrition of the baby on trips and outside the home in general. In addition, breastfeeding helps the newly-made mother recover quickly after childbirth and significantly strengthen emotional connection with baby.

Due to the inexperience of young mothers, it happens that breastfeeding instead of pleasure brings a lot of disappointment. Milk does not come, or there is very little of it, cracks in the nipples do not go away, or the child flatly refuses to take his mother's breast - there can be many reasons, they become especially relevant in the first month of the baby.

To solve any of these problems, women often begin to express their breasts. It is worth noting that modern doctors they advise not to abuse pumping, they recommend simply feeding the baby, following not the clock, but its requirements. In this case, the mammary gland will produce exactly as much milk as the baby needs.

However, in order to help yourself during such inflammatory processes, like lactostasis and mastitis, a woman should express breast milk until the inflammation goes away. Soon the baby will begin to empty the breast during each feeding and the likelihood of illness will be minimized. As a rule, this will take a month until lactation is established.

It is important to know the measure

Many young mothers are concerned about the question: how long to pump overfull breasts to avoid congestion? A couple of decades ago, experts answered this question unambiguously: to the end, so that the chest becomes completely empty. Today, their position is not so categorical: it is recommended to express the breast until it feels comfortable, so that the feeling of its overcrowding and bursting disappears.

If you follow the rule “to the last drop”, breast milk will begin to be produced with a vengeance, and there will be as much of it as one baby cannot suck. With a high degree of probability, such tactics will lead to congestion in the chest.

How to prepare and express milk

Pumping itself is not pleasant for every woman. In order to overcome discomfort, you need to create a favorable environment: calm music helps someone, non-hot tea helps others, many mothers also recommend back massage ... In other words, there are as many ways to deal with unpleasant physiological sensations as there are women.

By the way, it is worth trying to express breast milk with both hands and a breast pump: adherents of both the first and second methods are approximately equal in number. True, in the case of a breast pump, you have to make less of your own efforts, especially if the device is electric.

In the event that the baby suckles the breast quickly and actively, it is not worth buying a breast pump, but if the child does not gain weight well and sleeps a lot, the device will not be superfluous. As for the question of how long the procedure will take when pumping with hands and a breast pump, the answer is one: it will take about 15-20 minutes.

Secrets and subtleties of pumping by hand

Before expressing milk, you need to wash your hands well, using antibacterial soap, and find a suitable container (for example, a bottle) with a wide neck, boil it well and place it near your chest. After that, it is necessary to start the pumping procedure with two fingers: place the thumb over the nipple, the index finger under it, and then press on the areola from both sides. Pressing should be alternated with the relaxation of the fingers. When decanting, you need to carefully monitor that there are no pain. If they arise, the tactic is chosen incorrectly, and it needs to be changed.

When right action milk will drip from the chest, and in the case of an active excretion reflex, it will flow. After the flow becomes less, it is necessary to express both breasts in turn for 3 to 5 minutes to make sure that there is no excess milk left in any part.

It happens that the breast becomes rough, soreness appears in it, the nipple becomes tight, and it is completely impossible to express breast milk. In this situation, you can use the pumping method with a bottle.

Must first be poured into a sterilized bottle hot water, wait and pour. After cooling the neck (ideally, its diameter should be approximately 3 cm), it must be tightly fixed at the areola of the nipple. After a couple of minutes pass, he will be drawn into the bottle neck, and milk will drip into the container. To avoid damage to the nipple, the bottle will soon need to be removed and the breast milk will be expressed into a regular container.

Often mothers are interested in how much and under what conditions to store expressed milk. Breastfeeding specialists answer this way: in the refrigerator - 4 days, and in the freezer - up to 4 months.

Frequency of the procedure

As for how many times a day to express, this is an ambiguous question. So, with the arrival of milk, and with it - a feeling of fullness in the chest - it needs to be expressed for 1-3 days, 1-3 times a day.

If the newborn is separated from the mother (this is still practiced in some maternity hospitals), after each feeding by the hour, missed by the child due to sleep or refusal, both breasts are pumped in turn for 10-15 minutes.

It is worth noting that when milk will come and lactation is established, you need to gradually stop decanting the breast, reducing the duration and number of procedures. This usually happens within the first month of a baby's life, and it takes about a week to stop pumping completely.

So, until the baby is a month old and normal lactation is established, you may have to resort to pumping. However, doctors advise not to delay the refusal of this procedure, so as not to provoke the development inflammatory diseases associated with excessive lactation.

In fact, pediatricians and lactation consultants have clear guidelines for pumping. In the rules successful feeding developed World Organization health care, it is said that if the feeding of the baby is organized not according to the regimen, but on demand, then there is no need to express after each application to the breast. In this case, milk is produced exactly as much as the child needs, i.e. The amount of milk in the mother's breast is regulated depending on how often and how intensively the baby sucks her.
Why is this happening? It's all about the hormones that control lactation - prolactin and oxytocin.

Breastfeeding: prolactin

Prolactin is responsible for the secretion of breast milk. The amount of milk in the mother also depends on it - the more prolactin, the more milk will be. But in order for hormones to begin to be produced, they must receive a signal. Breast sucking stimulates sensitive nerve endings areola, from which a signal is transmitted along the nerves to the corresponding brain center - the pituitary gland, where prolactin is produced. Prolactin, in turn, stimulates the secretory cells of the mammary gland to produce a new portion of milk. Thus, the more often and more actively sucking occurs and the breast is emptied more completely, the greater the release of prolactin will be, and, accordingly, the greater the amount of milk will be produced. If you rarely apply the baby to the breast, milk accumulates in the mammary gland, and the body reacts to this by reducing its production. In case of shortage of milk, its amount can be increased more frequent applications baby to the chest. This is the so-called supply-demand principle.

Breastfeeding: Oxytocin

The second hormone - oxytocin - promotes the release of milk from the breast during feeding. Under its influence, the muscle fibers located around the lobules of the mammary gland contract and squeeze the milk into the ducts towards the nipple. Decreased production of oxytocin makes it difficult to empty the breast, even if there is milk in it. Thus, it becomes clear that the most common myth about pumping “so that milk is not lost, after each feeding it is necessary to express the breast to the last drop” has nothing to do with reality. When pumping after feeding, the breast receives "false" information about how much milk was spent. By the next feeding, milk will arrive in the “wrong” amount: sucked by the baby plus expressed. That is, regular pumping of the breast after each feeding will lead to an increase in milk production (hyperlactation) and, as a result, increase the likelihood of developing lactostasis and mastitis. After all, the baby will not be able to suck out the resulting large amount of milk, and it will stagnate in the chest. In addition, you can express milk to the last drop all day long, because it continues to be constantly produced.
In addition, expressing milk after each feeding, a mother can harm not only herself, but also her baby. The fact is that when a woman expresses her breasts after feeding, she removes the “back” from her, the most nutritious and fat milk, in which there is a lot of lactase - an enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar). Lactose itself is predominantly found in foremilk (that which is secreted at the beginning of feeding). Feeding a child only "front" milk leads to more than necessary, the flow of milk sugar into the intestines. As a result gastrointestinal tract the baby ceases to cope with a large amount of lactose, fermentation occurs, abdominal pain, stool disorders (liquid with greens and foam). All this leads to the development of lactase deficiency. In addition, eating only "front" milk, the baby does not receive the nutrients he needs.

When should you express?

When a mother gives the baby a breast at his first request, does not limit the time of sucking, does not give him water, there is sufficient stimulation of the mammary glands and the woman's body itself "calculates" how much milk to produce. In this case, there is no need for pumping. But there are special cases when a nursing mother for some reason needs to express milk. They can be divided into three large groups: Mom has too much milk, and you need to get rid of his excess. This, as a rule, happens during the formation of lactation, when milk arrives very quickly, the child does not have time to suck it out, and additional breast release is required to avoid milk stagnation and the development of mastitis. The mother has a need to feed the child.
This situation may arise if:

  • The child sucks badly (inactively). Most often, this problem occurs in children who are weakened due to an unfavorable course of pregnancy and difficult childbirth. Prematurity, hypoxia in childbirth, lesions nervous system, birth trauma lead to the fact that due to the slow maturation of the centers in the brain by the time of birth, the suckling reflex is not expressed in the child or the baby is very weak after childbirth, it is difficult for him to suckle. It is difficult for a child to grab the breast, which happens if the mother has inverted or flat nipples.
  • There are cracked nipples. With deep and painful cracks in the nipples, as a temporary measure for their healing, pumping and feeding the baby with expressed milk may be recommended.
  • When mother and baby are separated, for example, if a nursing mother needs to leave for a while (to work, study, etc.), and she misses feeding time, or a woman falls ill and is hospitalized.
  • It is necessary to stimulate the production of milk. Such measures have to be taken when: milk is excreted in not enough; the mother needs to maintain lactation for the time when she is separated from the baby and it is temporarily impossible to feed her (when treated with drugs that are incompatible with breastfeeding).

When to express early?

It depends on what caused the pumping.

  • If there is a lot of milk. With an excess of milk, which most often occurs during the period of lactation, it is recommended to express the breast not completely, but until a feeling of relief in the mammary glands. In this case, you should not be zealous with pumping and it is important to remember that the more milk is expressed, the more it will arrive later.
  • When a nursing mother needs to stimulate milk production, it can be recommended pumping at night. The hormone prolactin, which is responsible for the formation of milk, is secreted most of all at night, so pumping at this time contributes to an increase in lactation.
  • If mom needs to leave. When a nursing mother cannot regularly breastfeed her baby, then in order to maintain lactation, it is necessary to adhere to a specific pumping schedule. If she is absent for up to 3 hours, then it is necessary to feed (or decant) before leaving and immediately after returning home. In the absence of the mother for 4 to 6 hours, the mother will need to express milk 2-3 hours after the last feeding. If the interval is more than 6 hours, then it will be necessary to express every 3 hours.

How to express properly

If a nursing mother plans to go to work, then milk must be prepared in advance, approximately 1–1.5 months in advance. Recommended express milk once a day in the morning, between feedings, for 10-15 minutes, and freeze it. Milk should be stored on the basis that for every 3 hours of the absence of the mother, the baby will need 100-200 ml (depending on age).
Milk can be expressed by hand or with a breast pump.
Usually, each mother chooses the most convenient option for her. In cases where you need to express your breast quickly or there is a need to express large volumes of milk, you can use a breast pump, which greatly facilitates this process. But as practice shows, hand pumping every mother should learn, because situations may arise when you need to express milk, but there is no breast pump at hand. Expressing breasts with hands is effective and non-traumatic for the mammary gland.
It is only important to observe correct technique. Before pumping for the first time, it is advisable for a mother to consult a doctor or a lactation consultant so that she can be shown how to do it. It is convenient if you master this skill while still in the hospital. The whole process of pumping can be divided into two stages. At the first stage, the mother prepares clean dishes for milk (if these are not special sterile containers, then the container must be washed with water and then sterilized) and prepares herself (washes her hands thoroughly).
The second step is the actual process. expressing milk. Since the milk ejection reflex (the so-called oxytocin reflex) during pumping is not as pronounced as when a baby suckles, it is recommended to stimulate it before starting this procedure. Promotes the production of the hormone oxytocin positive emotions mothers, calm environment, bodily contact with the baby. So, let's get down to priming. First of all, mom needs to take a comfortable position and relax as much as possible.
A freer outflow of milk during pumping is facilitated by a warm or hot drink 10 minutes before the procedure, warm shower, light stroking breast massage towards the areola. It must be remembered that the accumulation of milk does not occur in the nipple, but in the areola zone, therefore, in order for pumping to be effective, it is necessary to squeeze this area, and not the nipple.
express breast it is recommended until it feels soft when touched by hands, and there should be no lumps in it. If the mother has found a site of compaction, it is necessary to try to accurately strain it. Sometimes, in the process of pumping, a nursing mother may notice that the feeling of breast fullness persists, and milk has stopped flowing from it. In this case, it is recommended to take a short break, during which you can try to pump another mammary gland or just get distracted and relax. If, when following all the recommendations for pumping, the mother notes that over and over again she expresses very small amount milk, you should seek the help of a doctor or a lactation consultant to solve this problem.

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