How to express breast milk?

Doctors no longer recommend modern breastfeeding mothers to decimate after each feeding, but knowledge of how to properly perform such a procedure can be useful to any woman who is breastfeeding. For example, pumping out helps a nursing mother if she needs to leave or prepare milk for future use. Let's see what are the ways of pumping and how to express milk from the breast correctly.

Breast is decanted either for the sake of getting milk, or to alleviate the condition of the breast itself.

The reasons for which mom has to express are:

• The inability to attach the baby to the breast, for example, prematurity.
• The child does not suck the milk badly, without emptying the breast for feeding.
• Milk stagnation.
• Cracked nipples (deep).
• Mastitis.
• Inverted or flat nipples.
• Exit mom to work.
• Diseases of the mother.

Many mothers choose this version of decanting for its availability and simplicity. Draining her chest with her hands, the woman regulates the pressure on the gland independently. However, this type of pumping requires a lot of effort from the mother, and quite a lot of time.

Devices that help women express breast milk are mechanical as well as electrical.

• The procedure is much easier than pumping hands, and also runs much faster.
• Modern devices imitate the process of sucking the breast of the baby, so they do not just express milk, but also provide an incentive for its development.
• In many models, you can express milk directly into the bottle, closing it with a lid, as well as in a container for storing milk in the freezer.
• In electronic breastpumps, you can choose the pumping mode.
• It is a hygienic way.

• Requires purchase of a breast pump.
• Frequent use of the breast pump can cause breast swelling.

One of the most convenient types of breastpumps are piston, the most affordable - with a pear.

• Wash your hands and take the sterilized containers, if you will expressed milk to feed the baby.
• Massage the chest with one hand, the other supporting her bottom. Wait for the appearance of milk. If it does not appear for a long time, make a warm compress by applying a warm flannel to your chest. Repeat the massage again.
• After collecting the breast pump, lower its piston to release air. Next, attach the breast pump to the areola and make sure that the funnel of the apparatus tightly engulfed the chest. Raising the piston or squeezing the pear, you will see how the isolae and the nipple are drawn into the device. By pressing the piston (pear) several times, you will achieve the start of milk flow from the breast.
• Work the breast pump until you get enough milk. Pour the strained milk into a sterilized bottle.

When using an electronic (electric) breast pump, the pumping technique will be similar, but you will not need to perform mechanical actions to collect milk, it will be enough to adjust the speed and press the button to maintain the selected speed until the end of the pumping. The electronic breast pump is very convenient for mothers who have gone to work, because they free their hands and allow them to work even during pumping.

For most women, it is easier to express milk in the morning, as the breast glands are full. And this is really a good option for decanting manually. If a mother uses a breast pump, she can feed the baby from one breast and simultaneously express milk from the other.

You can facilitate the procedure for yourself if:

• Drink warm fluid before decanting.
• Apply a warm compress to your chest.
• Take a warm shower before the procedure.
• Make a breast massage - massage movements should be directed to the nipple, stroke the areola and nipple with your fingers, and the breast itself can be gently rubbed with a fist.

It is also important to calm down and relax. You can turn on pleasant music and imagine that milk flows from the breast easily. If mom is decanting out of the house, she can take a photo of the baby with her.