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The closeness and comfort of nursing a baby can make it a wonderful experience, but breastfeeding can be hard, and it can be a lot of work to establish and maintain your milk supply. One of the most efficient ways to maintain milk supply is to pump, particularly if you work outside of the home or have to be away for an extended period of time.
Those aren't the only reasons for a mom to use a breast pump. Perhaps you have other issues such as engorgement, a clogged milk duct, or an inverted or flat nipple. Those challenges, of course, make pumping breast milk difficult. There are many types of breast pumps available.
Some are manual and some are electric. Some pumps are designed to use on one breast at a time or some allow tandem pumping – or pumping both breasts at once.
Almost all pumps work well and hand expression of your own breasts can also supply adequate amounts of milk for your baby. Like almost any new thing you do – it will take practice and getting comfortable – to be successful at using the breast pump.
Give yourself the gift of time and patience. Anxiety and fatigue have both been shown to significantly reduce milk volume. Getting the rest you need can be hard with a new baby but rest when the baby rests and learn the joy of a nap! Likewise, take the pressure off – you don’t have to do this “perfectly – it is a skill that gets better with practice. You and your baby are both learning so just take a deep breath and stay with it.
Corky Harvey, a registered nurse and certified lactation consultant, has a few tips: Milk supply will vary throughout the day, and during the upcoming weeks and months. However, when moms pump either full-time or part-time, output can be an issue.
It’s typical for a mother who nurses full-time to be able to pump around one half to two ounces from both breasts per pumping session. Harvey suggests you pump at the same time every day, take a warm shower, or massage your breasts – moving from your chest wall out towards your nipple - before you begin to pump.
Harvey also says moms might be able to increase their milk flow by pumping on one side while they nurse the baby on the other, which requires a bit of coordination but may be worth the effort.. Moms can tandem pump which means using a pump that attaches to both breasts at the same time. .
We asked our Facebook fans to share any advice on how to effectively use the breast pump to obtain milk here’s what they had to say.
"For me, I would get up a half hour before my little girl woke up to pump for 20 minutes, and when I was home with her I would try to time it so that I could pump 15 to 20 min before she normally had a feeding. Then I would pump right before I went to bed. When I was working I would pump when I first woke up, feed her before we left the house, pump two to three times throughout the day, nurse her when we were home, and then pump right before bed. It's a lot of work, and planning, but it gets easier as you practice. I used the Medela electric pump to pump both at once. Sometimes it helped me to look at her picture, but mostly just getting my body to relax through deep breathing. A glass of water, visualization, and nearly a meditative state of thinking. To build a freezer stash, I woke up in the middle of the night to pump once she was sleeping through the night. But overall, you just need time. You have to get used to the pump. It's not going to happen immediately, so just be patient. Your body will adjust! As frequently as possible, especially if you know you'll have to be away from baby. Also, it's important to remember how much you can pump is not an indication of how much your baby is able to get. So many moms think they have an inadequate supply just because they aren't able to pump much. I used the massage-stroke-shake method. It feels silly but I'd get an extra ounce or two."
Breastfeeding is a commitment, and your efforts are worthwhile. Pumping milk will help extend your breastfeeding relationship with your baby, and it enables you to keep your milk supply up and collect it later for feedings while you’re away from your child. You may also be one of those women blessed with an excess of milk, and your baby can't use it all. If so consider donating your excess to a milk bank where it can be used to help premature babies receive the best possible nutrition they desperately need in the first few weeks of their lives.