The correct technique for expressing breast milk with your hands. Pros and cons of hand pumping. Back milk when pumping

22.07.2019

With breastfeeding on demand, constant pumping is not necessary: the amount of milk is regulated by the child himself. Frequent pumping "to the last drop" can lead to hyperactivation - excess milk production.

Does this mean that you don’t need to express at all, never and no one? Not at all. There are cases in which pumping is really necessary. Here they are:

With a strong postpartum flush milk, which is accompanied by engorgement (usually 3-4 days after birth). Here it is important not to overdo it and give the mother's body time to figure out how much milk the child really needs. Pumping begins no earlier than a day from the onset of the tide. The fact is that substances that signal that milk is being produced in excess appear in the breast only after a day. If you express milk earlier, then it will come again in the same amount. Your best breast pump during this period will be ... a child whom you will breastfeed at his request and on your own initiative, if the breast becomes stony between feedings.

And only in a situation where the baby does not want to suck in any way, it will be necessary to strain the chest until a feeling of relief.

For increasing lactation in cases where the child for some reason cannot empty the breast well enough. In this case, pumping plays the role of additional stimulation of the breast and increases the volume of milk produced.
For maintenance of lactation if mother and baby are temporarily separated. Expressing in a rhythm 2-3 times a day, you can maintain lactation for quite a long time. If you need to achieve the volume of the child's daily diet, you need to do this at least 6-10 times a day, including at night.
If mom needs go away and leave milk for the duration of his absence.
In case of occurrence lactostasis- stagnation of milk. With lactostasis, you need to express if the child sucks on the diseased breast reluctantly or does not suck at all.

What is the best way to express - with a breast pump or with your hands?

Each option has its supporters. If you are expressing milk for the first time in your life, try doing it manually first. With your own hands you will not hurt yourself and you will not injure your chest with errors in technique. In addition, when pumping with your hands, you can take into account the anatomy of your breast, choose the right movements, speed and strength of compression.

When using mechanical devices, the risk of injuring yourself is much higher. The first three to four days after childbirth - during the colostrum period and the period of postpartum milk flow, as well as during milk stagnation (lactostasis), pumping with a breast pump is especially not recommended.

it is inefficient
you can only aggravate the swelling and worsen the outflow of milk.

On the other hand, a breast pump can be of great help to you later, when the breasts are already developed. It makes sense to use it when you need regular pumping - for example, if the mother goes to work or is often absent from the child.

Hand Expression Technique

Prepare a clean dish with a lid; it is inconvenient to express in a baby bottle, it is better to take an ordinary wide cup or bowl. Wash and dry your hands so they don't slip on your chest.

To improve the outflow of milk before pumping, you can: apply dry heat to your chest for a few minutes, drink something hot, warm your hands and feet in hot water, take a hot shower; roll the nipple between thumb and forefinger.
Sit or stand comfortably, place the dishes under your chest.
Place your thumb above the areola, and the index and middle fingers below it: the pads of the fingers and the nipple are in the same vertical line. Make sure that during pumping, the fingers are on the border of the areola and white skin, or slightly beyond this border.
Press your thumb and forefinger on the areola towards the chest (i.e. TO YOURSELF, not away from you). This may have to be done several times before the milk drips, flows or splatters.
Now make the next movement - “bringing out”: slightly squeeze the fold with your fingers and bring it forward (this time away from you). This movement is squeezing.
Move your fingers in a circle to empty all the lobes of the chest. Make sure that your fingers do not slip on the skin - for this, the hand and chest sometimes you have to wipe it, for example, with a diaper.
It is advisable to express the breast for at least 3-5 minutes, but not more than 20-30 minutes, changing the hand until the milk flows weaker. It is impossible to express all the milk from the breast “dry”, as it is produced constantly.

What not to do with manual pumping: rub, press, massage the chest, and also make any movements that bring pain.

Pumping technique

On the one hand, everything is easier with a breast pump: you just need to follow the instructions that come with it. On the other hand, it is more difficult: not every breast pump can effectively express exactly your breast. If you did everything according to the instructions, but did not achieve success, the following tricks can help:

comfortable posture, relaxed shoulders and neck;
such an inclination of the body, in which the chest will be turned down, will hang down;
warmth on the chest before pumping, hot drink;
express both breasts at the same time (here you need a double breast pump);
pumping right during the feeding of the child (we feed one, we express the second in parallel);
thoughts about the child, imagine him feeding;
"white noise": sounds of nature, running water, the sound of rain.

If you are unable to express milk

Have you not been successful or have you pumped less than you expected? When feeding on demand, the mother's body usually produces the amount of milk that is needed for one feeding. Accordingly, getting something extra can be difficult. But do not lose hope: already from the third or fourth attempt, pumping will become more effective. The breast will “learn” to give milk in a new way, you will adapt to make the necessary movements, study the rhythms of the flow of milk, find the right mood. Pumping is a constant practice and experience.

Keep in mind that you can draw the required portion of milk not at once, but over several pumpings - for example, during the day. The expressed milk should be stored in the refrigerator.

What does expressed breast milk look like?

Some moms are scared by the sight of their own milk. It seems to them bluish, transparent, empty or, conversely, too fat. Breast milk is not like cow milk! It can look like melted butter, and like a translucent bluish water. Expressed milk that has stood for several minutes may separate - the fatter component will float to the top in the form of cream, and the more liquid one will remain at the bottom. By the type of milk, it makes no sense to judge the nutritional value. The milk of one woman may differ from the milk of another, "two-week" milk is not like "three-month" - but at any lactation period it will certainly meet the needs of a particular child.

Storage of expressed milk

Expressed breast milk is stored:

without refrigerator - 12 hours
in the refrigerator - a day
in the freezer with quick freezing (temperature -18 degrees) - up to 4-6 months

As storage containers, you can use both special containers and clean glassware that is hermetically sealed. Baby food jars, for example, are fine. You can use just tight, hermetically sealed plastic bags.

To thaw your breast milk, hold the container of milk under running warm water. Check the temperature by dropping warm milk on the back of your wrist. Do not defrost milk in the microwave.

And the last. Be sure to taste the milk before giving it to your baby. It shouldn't be bitter!

Among young mothers, there is an opinion that in order to improve lactation, a woman needs to constantly express milk from her breast. Instead of devoting more time to the newborn, such women are forced to express their breasts after each feeding. However, lactation consultants believe that this is not necessary at all, since the process of lactation is best regulated by the child himself. But excessive pumping can lead to hyperlactation, which can cause a lot of inconvenience and problems. Let's try to figure out whether it is necessary to express milk, in what cases and how it should be done.

When should you express milk?

It is believed that a child, sucking a certain amount of milk from his mother's breast during feeding, gives the female body a kind of signal about how much it should be produced in the future. If the baby begins to eat worse, then the amount of milk produced also decreases. Thus, the wise nature provided for the natural regulation of the lactation process.

With normally established lactation, when the baby is fed on demand and he sucks milk well, grabs the nipple correctly, the mother and baby are healthy and feel good, additional pumping is not required.

However, there are situations in which it is necessary to drain milk from the glands. Let's consider the main ones.

During the formation of lactation, milk should be expressed after feeding to regulate its production. After the birth of a child, milk arrives quite intensively, and if the child does not have time to completely suck it out, then by the next feeding it will be produced in a smaller amount. Therefore, you should express the remaining milk, otherwise it may burn out over time. And when the appetite of the newborn improves, there will be nothing to feed him. The main thing in this case is not to overdo it and not cause hyperlactation, so the milk should not be squeezed out completely, but only until the breast becomes soft. Otherwise, you can come to a vicious circle, when at each feeding more and more milk will be produced, and it will be necessary to express the breast longer and harder. It is believed that normal lactation should be established within a week after childbirth, and during this period you can strain 2-3 times a day.
In the case of lactostasis, when the milk ducts are clogged and lumps form in the mammary gland, which then become very painful and can cause a fever, milk should be manually expressed from such areas. It may take several days to break down such lumps, but if this is not done, then mastitis will begin - inflammation of the mammary gland. After restoration of patency of the ducts, pumping can be stopped. In the future, you should ensure that the child sucks each breast well, and if this does not happen, strain it yourself.
During the period of illness of a woman in labor, when she needs to take antibiotics or other drugs that can harm the newborn, the baby is not applied to the breast, and milk is manually expressed to maintain lactation. Doctors recommend pumping 6-10 times during the day, with an interval of 3-4 hours during the day and 6-7 hours at night. You can continue to breastfeed your baby after you stop taking the medication.
If the baby is born prematurely or with any pathology in which stress is contraindicated for him (and the sucking process is physical labor for the baby), then he is fed from a bottle with expressed mother's milk. If, for some reason, the newborn is not breastfed immediately after birth, then pumping should begin within 6 hours after birth. At first, it will be possible to extract only a few drops of colostrum, but this will give a signal to the body that it is necessary to activate milk production.
Sometimes, due to the overflow of the gland with milk, it becomes very hard and the child cannot properly latch on to the nipple. In this case, you can eliminate the swelling of the gland by expressing a little milk before feeding, and then applying the child to it.

Instructions for nursing mothers on the correct expression of breast milk with lactostasis

How to express properly?

Milk can be expressed manually or with the help of breast pumps, which, in turn, are mechanical and electric. When using a breast pump, it is necessary to carefully monitor its cleanliness and sterilize it before each use in order to eliminate the risk of pathogenic bacteria on its surface. The use of breast pumps by women with cracked nipples is prohibited.

When using a breast pump, make sure that the nipple is located exactly in the center of the funnel, and its edges fit snugly against the skin of the breast. Breast pumps are more effective when the breasts are full, and work worse if the breasts are soft. In this case, women combine pumping: first they use a suction device, and then they manually strain.

Before manual pumping, a small breast massage should be performed.

This will cause the pituitary gland to produce oxytocin, which will expand the mammary ducts of the glands and facilitate the movement of milk.

In the process of decanting, no effort should be made, all movements should be smooth and light so as not to damage the milk alveoli. You need to express milk for about 20-30 minutes. If a woman does not have the experience of self-expression, she should seek help from a midwife or nurse in the hospital, who will show what movements to massage the glands while expressing milk.

The phenomenon when the mother's body produces more milk than the baby needs is called hyperlactation. To eliminate it, you should reduce the number of pumping. However, this should be done gradually so as not to provoke lactostasis.

The signal to the body about excessively produced milk is received within 24 hours. Therefore, you must first refuse to express after night feeding, and during the day, express the milk completely so that the breast is soft. After three days, it will be possible to refuse one more pumping and so gradually increase their number to 1-2 per day. In this way, it will be possible to get rid of excessive production of breast milk in 1-1.5 weeks.

Mother's milk: causes of extinction and prevention

How to store milk

Expressed milk should be stored properly. Of course, you need to collect it in a thoroughly washed and preferably sterilized container. And if necessary, keep it for a long time - milk should be placed in the refrigerator.

Unlike artificial mixtures, human milk contains a large amount of protective antibodies that inhibit the development of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, it can be safely left out of the refrigerator for 2-3 hours until the next feeding, without fear for its quality. If you plan to store milk for a longer time, you need to put it in the refrigerator. And the milk, which is planned to be stored for more than two days, should be frozen in the freezer.

Every woman should master the techniques of manual pumping as early as possible, as sooner or later she will need it in the process of breastfeeding a child. In order to learn how to do this correctly, it is advisable to seek help from a medical professional or a more experienced mother. By carefully monitoring the condition of the breast and the process of milk production, you can significantly extend the duration of breastfeeding, which will bring great benefits to both the newborn baby and his mother.

The approach to breastfeeding has changed dramatically in recent years. If earlier babies were breastfed exclusively according to the regimen, today this practice is considered outdated and fundamentally wrong. It was replaced by on-demand feeding of the newborn, which, according to experts, fully meets the needs of the child's and maternal organisms.

However, new mothers still have a variety of questions about how to properly breastfeed their baby, whether to express breast milk after or before feedings, and why to express.

Is it possible and necessary to express breast milk

Despite the fact that stereotypes are becoming more and more a thing of the past, many women still think that if they do not express milk, then it will be lost. There is indeed some truth in this, but only if feeding is carried out by the hour, that is, in accordance with a strictly established regimen. If a woman puts her baby to her breast every 3-3.5 hours, then for 6-7 hours or longer one breast remains intact, and subsequently less milk begins to be produced. This is because breast milk is produced in accordance with the needs of the child: the more often and more he sucks, the more milk comes.

If within a few hours there is no “demand” for the breast, then this is perceived by the body as a signal to stop milk production as unnecessary. In this regard, pumping for some time allows you to maintain lactation at the desired level when feeding is on schedule.

Therefore, if the child has unlimited access to the breast and receives it on demand, if the breastfeeding process is established correctly, the baby has enough milk and he remains full, gains weight normally, then pumping the breast is not only unnecessary, but also unsafe. This can lead to excessive milk production - hyperlactation, which is not very easy to deal with. This is why you shouldn't express breast milk.

Hyperlactation leads to congestive and inflammatory processes in the breast, which can also occur when feeding according to the regimen.

However, there are certain situations when it is necessary to express breast milk. And you should know about them.

Breastfeeding experts say that if the lactation process is established correctly from the first days after childbirth, then the need for decanting the breast is extremely rare. And yet, sometimes even such mothers have to express their breasts:

In the first days after childbirth . Milk does not arrive on the first day. First, the baby feeds on colostrum, and only after 3-4 days milk begins to appear. It happens that a lot of it immediately arrives, and the baby does not have time to empty both breasts. In this case, if mommy feels heaviness, discomfort and a feeling of fullness in the chest, the chest hardens, then you can express it a little - only until you feel relief. Also, the need to express the breast may occur immediately after childbirth, if the child and mother are separate. To maintain lactation, a woman is forced to imitate the process of feeding until the baby begins to fully attach to the breast. Even if the child is brought to the mother for feeding according to the regime, he still will not suck out the breast, as expected, because in such cases newborns are fed from a bottle. If the mother feels that the baby does not suck or sucks very sluggishly, then you need to express every time for 10-15 minutes. If, due to long intervals between feedings, a lot of milk accumulates in the breast, then you can also express, but only a little.
If blockages and inflammation form . Sometimes, due to the abundant secretion of milk or for other reasons, the ducts of the mammary glands are clogged, forming seals. Firstly, it causes pain and discomfort to a woman and can even lead to inflammatory processes. Secondly, blockages make it difficult for the baby to suckle, and he may refuse the breast because of this. In this case, the blockage must be “dissolved”.
If breastfeeding is temporarily not possible . It happens that, for health reasons, the baby is weaned from the mother for appropriate therapy, or he is simply very weakened, and natural breastfeeding cannot be temporarily carried out. This happens in a number of other cases: if the mother is sick, if the birth took place with the use of potent medications, if the woman treats deep cracks in the nipples, if the mother is forced to leave or go to work for a while, etc. In such situations, milk must be expressed either to maintain lactation for the future, or to continue breastfeeding the baby in the absence of the mother, but then it is necessary to adhere to the rules for storing expressed breast milk.
After fluorography, alcohol, anesthesia . Of course, if the mother's body has been exposed to harmful effects, then breastfeeding may not be safe. In particular, it is recommended to express milk after taking certain medications, drinking alcohol, and undergoing x-rays. But it is better, of course, to avoid such cases.
If there is not enough milk . Many young mothers face this problem. Breastfeeding experts assure that it can be solved very simply: consultation with a competent specialist will put everything in its place. In the meantime, while the lactation process is getting better, you can express your breasts after each feeding.
If there is too much milk . Breasts full of milk begin to hurt, and may even become inflamed if the condition remains so for a long time. In this case, you can express the breast a little, but first you should try to put the baby to the breast more often - perhaps he will solve this problem himself. If the baby is difficult to eat due to the fact that the milk flows out a lot, then you can express it a little before feeding.

If milk is expressed for further feeding to a child, then it is necessary to choose the right container for this, study the conditions for storing milk and other nuances, and observe the conditions of sterility.

Very often, mothers have a question: is it possible to express breast milk into already expressed, several times in one bottle? Opinions on this matter differ. Some experts are categorically against this practice, since the milk in each breast may differ in composition. Moreover, even milk expressed from the same breast has a different taste and composition if some time has passed between pumping procedures. Other consultants allow this possibility, but at the same time they pay attention to the fact that it is impossible to express milk into already expressed milk, but you can only mix different portions of milk with each other, but only after it reaches the same temperature (that is, when freshly expressed milk has cooled down). ).

What happens if you don't express breast milk

So, let's sum up. Breast pumping is a very tedious, burdensome, unpleasant, exhausting and often completely unnecessary procedure for a nursing woman. Ideally, there is no need to express breast milk, but in some cases it may be useful. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

The hormone prolactin responsible for lactation is most actively produced at night. In this regard, in order not to increase the production of breast milk, it is better not to express the breast between 9 pm and 9 am, and if there is an urgent need for this (for example, the breast is very full), then express only a minimum.
Accordingly, if pumping is done in order to increase lactation, then it is best to do it around midnight and, of course, apply the baby to the chest as often as possible at night.
When developing excess breast milk, it is impossible to express the breast completely!
You can resort to decanting breast milk only in individual, isolated cases, and not on a regular basis. It does not happen that such a need exists all the time. If there are “indications” for this, then, as a rule, with the right approach, the problem is solved within 2-3 days, a maximum of a week.
It is not worth expressing breast milk when weaning a child, since stimulation of lactation (which, in fact, is pumping), in this case is completely inappropriate.

We found out how to know when to pump and when to express breast milk. We hope these tips have been helpful to you.

Especially for - Margarita SOLOVIEVA

At some point in breastfeeding, many women find themselves in a situation where, for a variety of reasons, they need to express their breast milk. Such reasons may be, for example, the establishment of lactation in the absence of the possibility of “free” feeding of the child or the inability of the crumbs to effectively suction colostrum or milk (low weight or weakened newborn), etc.

Types of pumping

There are several types of pumping. You can express breast milk:

hands (manual pumping). The most preferred method of pumping, the technique of which the nursing staff should teach the woman in the postpartum unit.
using a breast pump (hardware pumping). Used when manual pumping is ineffective.
using a warm bottle (warm bottle method). This method requires some experience in its use.

When pumping is needed

There are many situations in which expressing breast milk is not only necessary, but also useful for alleviating the condition of a nursing mother. Expression of breast milk is not considered a mandatory procedure and may be needed only in the early period - in the first days after childbirth, when the formation of lactation can be painful due to the development of blockage of the milk ducts, breast engorgement and lactostasis. In this case, clearing is simply necessary.

Expressing breast milk is useful 1 to:

relieve the condition of breast engorgement;
alleviate the condition with blockage of the milk duct or lactostasis;
feed the baby while he learns to suck with his mother's inverted nipples;
feed a baby who has difficulty coordinating suckling;
to feed a child who refuses to "breastfeed" while he learns to enjoy breastfeeding;
feeding a low birth weight newborn who cannot suckle;
feed a sick baby who cannot suckle enough milk;
maintain lactation while the mother or baby is sick;
leave breast milk to the child when the mother is away or at work;
prevent loss of milk when separated from the baby;
to help the child better adapt to the filled breast;
express breast milk directly into the baby's mouth;
prevent dryness and inflammation of the nipples and areola.

1 “Breastfeeding counseling: a course of study. Teacher's Guide” (WHO and UNICEF).

The very first decantation (breast decantation) will be needed even in the maternity hospital, when milk comes 2-4 days after birth. You may feel a bursting pain in your chest and find that it has greatly enlarged and become very hard (stony). If putting the newborn to the breast does not bring relief, then pumping is necessary. At the same time, it is necessary to express the breast until a feeling of relief, so that the breast becomes soft and in no case completely. The more a woman pumps, the more milk will come, the baby will not be able to empty her breast completely (because at first the baby needs very little breast milk), which can lead to stagnation of milk and a state of hyperlactation with breast engorgement. The baby will not be able to suck such a breast.

With lactostasis, the mammary gland increases in volume, seals are felt in the chest. Body temperature can rise up to 38-40°C. After decanting the mammary gland with lactostasis, the pain disappears, the seals decrease, the body temperature decreases.

But there may be a situation when very little milk is produced (hypogalactia). In this case, the early attachment of the baby to the breast and the early start of expressing breast milk are especially important. Early pumping is of particular importance for those puerperas who, for various reasons, are temporarily not allowed to feed. Expression of breast milk during feeding hours in these women stimulates the process of lactation.

If the baby was born very premature or too weak to breastfeed, regular expression of breast milk is also necessary to establish and maintain lactation.

Expression of breast milk is also necessary if the mother goes to work or is simply separated from the baby for several hours. Pre-expressed breast milk will help your baby continue to get all the nutrients he or she needs while you are away.

Thus, we can conclude that expressing breast milk is not a mandatory, everyday procedure. The main role in decanting and the formation of lactation belongs to the baby himself, especially when “free” feeding or feeding the child “on demand”. With this type of feeding, milk is produced exactly as much as the child needs. But in certain circumstances (for medical reasons or a certain lifestyle), it becomes necessary to express breast milk.

The need to express breast milk is still a matter of debate among experts. How to express breast milk? The World Health Organization has developed special recommendations on this matter - there is no need to express breast milk if lactation is set correctly and the baby sucks out the entire volume of milk that comes to the breast. There are also special cases in which pumping is simply necessary - for the sake of the child.

Cases when it is necessary to express the breast for the sake of the child:

The formation of lactation after childbirth. Immediately after the birth of a child, the breast is filled with a special substance - colostrum. A newborn needs two sips to saturate. Do I need to express colostrum? On the third day, primary milk arrives, which is much thinner than colostrum. The chest is literally poured from a large volume, the baby is not yet able to cope with it. To express milk or not in this case? If you do not express, then the brain will receive a signal about a decrease in the volume of milk production. This cannot be allowed, because the child will soon get stronger and will grow rapidly. With the formation of lactation, the breast is not decanted to the end, the procedure must be stopped when the feeling of fullness disappears, and the gland itself becomes soft.
Insufficient lactation. Is it possible to express milk when there is already very little of it? The issue is resolved on an individual basis, there is no unambiguous advice in this situation. If pumping increases production, then in order to maintain lactation, this must be done.
Children born prematurely, having an insufficient sucking reflex or born with a pathology. For these babies, breastfeeding is hard work. They are usually bottle fed with expressed breast milk. Mom's milk is the best medicine for them, lactation must be fought to the last drop.
Stagnation is the appearance of the first signs of mastitis. The appearance of a lump in the breast is the first sign that there are problems with breastfeeding. It is necessary to knead the compacted slices and find the cause of lactostasis. Perhaps the mother is not putting the baby to the breast correctly.
The need for medication. In situations where the mother's condition requires constant medication, she is forced to express and discard milk. Almost all drugs overcome natural barriers and pass into breast milk.
Anatomical features of the chest. We are talking about a flat nipple, which is difficult for a child to grasp. For such cases, special overlays have been developed. A woman should know how to use them. If the situation does not allow, then the mother is recommended to express and bottle feed the baby for the first time.

When it makes sense to express

Forced separation from a child. If a nursing mother is busy with her studies, is at work, or is sick, then in order for her lactation to continue, she must definitely express milk regularly and feed her baby from a bottle.
Expression of milk for long-term storage in the refrigerator. In cases where the mother is facing a long course of medication or is forced to stop breastfeeding for some reason, it makes sense to express milk and freeze it in the refrigerator. Breast milk is too valuable a product for a child, which is important for its normal health and development.

How to express properly

How to express breast milk with your hands? Before you start pumping with your hands, you need some preparation. It can be skipped if the milk arrives well and flows in a trickle at any touch.

In order to cause a rush of milk or to drain lactostasis, the following activities will be useful:

Before pumping, take a warm shower, dousing the mammary gland with jets of water from the armpit to the nipple and from the base of the breast to the nipple. Shower time is 10 minutes.
Apply a warm gauze compress to your chest for 15 minutes.
10 minutes before pumping, you can drink warm tea with milk or plain water.
Massage the breast, gently rubbing the gland with the tips of 4 fingers in a circular motion.
Tilt the body parallel to the floor and slightly shake the chest.
If lactation is insufficient, then it is useful to let the baby touch the breast or sit next to him.

How to express breast milk with your hands? Before the pumping procedure, you must wash your hands well with soap and prepare a wide cup for milk, previously sterilized by boiling.

Expression technique

How to express milk correctly? The slicing technique looks like this:

It is necessary to take a comfortable sitting position, set the milk cup at the level of the nipple, straighten your back.
With your left hand, hold the mammary gland from below, and with your right hand stroke it from above towards the nipple.
Put the thumb on the border of the areola from above, and the index finger - below it. Bring your fingers together in a ring, pressing on the areola. This stimulates the milk ducts. The pad of your thumb should slide across your chest from top to bottom. Pumping movements are performed rhythmically. The fingers move around the nipple in a circle to express milk from all the lobules.
Pump breast for 5 minutes, then switch to another. After the procedure must be repeated. Thus, the entire pumping process takes at least 15-30 minutes.
In the case when the skin of the areola and fingers are very moist, it is necessary to blot the chest and hands with a clean cotton towel, and then continue the procedure.
Pumping continues not to the last drop, but to a feeling of relief. It is better to carry out the procedure more often, so the process of milk formation will be more efficient.

It is important to make all pumping movements slowly, but confidently, with the right technique, milk will come out of the breast not in drops, but in a trickle.

Some experts recommend pumping while breastfeeding. While he is suckling milk from one breast, mom is pumping milk into a cup from the other. The meaning of the reception - the sucking movements of the child best of all cause a rush of milk.

apply force, rough pressure on the mammary gland can injure tissues and milk ducts, which will lead to lactostasis
randomly press your fingers on different parts of the chest, this will cause irritation
put pressure on the nipple, so cracks may appear

The pumping procedure should proceed without pain, any pain is a signal that the process technique is not followed.

In Russia, there is a program to support breastfeeding. If you can’t master the pumping technique, you can contact a doctor, a breastfeeding specialist, or call the Hotline for qualified advice.

How to express your breasts with a bottle

It is used when the breast is inflamed, the nipple is strained and it is not possible to attach the baby to the breast. In this case, using a bottle, you can express milk slightly, and then, when the breast becomes softer, offer it to the child.

Technique for expressing milk with a bottle:

For the procedure, a bottle with a neck of at least 4 cm in diameter is selected. It is pre-washed and boiled for 10 minutes. Pumping can begin when the neck has cooled to body temperature.
Lightly smear the areola of the breast with Vaseline.
Attach the bottle to the nipple so that it is drawn into the bottle and the milk begins to flow out in a trickle.
Finish the procedure when milk stops flowing from the nipple.

Expressing milk with a breast pump

The modern market offers young mothers many varieties of breast pumps - manual, semi-automatic, automatic models. The choice depends on preference and ease of use.

Before the procedure of use, the device must be well washed and sterilized. Next, follow the instructions:

Insert the nipple into the funnel of the breast pump so that it is centered. The skin of the areola should be clean and dry, then it is tightly adjacent to the walls of the funnel and the necessary vacuum is created.
Further, the device is started using a button, lever, pear and similar devices.
If the breast pump is manual, then it is necessary to rhythmically press the pear or piston handle, in automatic models - adjust the pumping force for yourself.
The pumping procedure is considered complete when the breast becomes soft and milk flows in a trickle.

Breastfeeding experts believe that hand pumping is gentler. With frequent use of the breast pump, the mammary glands may swell, and the areolas may increase in size.

Machine milk expression

It makes sense when it is necessary to drain the breast after childbirth or there are obvious signs of lactostasis. Hardware breast pumps are now available in almost all maternity hospitals and children's clinics. After several procedures, when lactation is established, you can switch to traditional manual pumping or use a breast pump.

How to store breast milk

Mother's milk is a perishable product. The microbial flora quickly develops in it; if stored improperly, milk can deteriorate and turn sour. Expressed milk is not recommended to be poured from container to container. It is best to express it into a feeding bottle, which can be taken out of the refrigerator, warmed up and offered to the child.

Electric breast pumps are usually sold complete with containers for storing breast milk, which can later be put on a nipple and fed to the baby. In bottles and containers, milk can be stored for 6-8 hours.

Should milk be stored? To store milk in a refrigerator, you can use glass baby food jars, after boiling them. In this way, milk is stored for up to 4 days and will not be able to turn sour.

If the milk will be frozen for long-term storage, then you can purchase industrial sterile disposable bags that are marked with the day and time of pumping. At -18 ° C, milk can be stored in them for up to six months.