Why express breast milk?
Reasons mums may wish to express milk:
- To relieve uncomfortable, full breasts
- So someone else can feed their baby
- To bottle-feed with breast milk
- To boost their milk supply
- To feed when away from home
Why not?
If mums express milk too often, expressing can increase engorgement, as it tells the body to produce more milk
When?
Once breastfeeding is well-established.
The best time to express milk varies from woman to woman. Milk producing hormones are the highest at night, so a good time to express milk may be first thing in the morning.
When to express:
For a night feed – in the morning, as the breasts are fuller at this time.
To relieve engorged breasts – little and often, before each feed for example. Make them aware that this can increase milk supply.
To boost milk supply – after daytime feeds.
How?
By manual pump – mum stays in complete control.
- Set up the pump according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Place the suction cup over the breast.
- Extract milk by using the manual squeezing mechanism (they’ll need to allow time for their milk to let-down).
For more information, see Choosing a breast pump.
By electric pump – quick and easy to use
- Set up the pump according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Place the suction cup over the breast.
- Turn machine on. The machine will extract the milk (they’ll need to allow time for their milk to let-down.
When the milk flow slows down, they should express from the other breast. They should keep changing breasts until the milk stops or drips very slowly.
For more information, see Choosing a breast pump.
Top tips
Mums need to be relaxed – so they should choose a time when they are not rushed.
- They may want to keep a picture of their baby or an item of their baby’s clothing nearby as this can help with the let-down reflex
- A warm shower may help to increase blood supply to their breasts, and help them relax too
- Even though they aren`t breastfeeding, they should keep a drink to hand