How to Comfortably Pump Breast Milk

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Whether you need to get back to work or you are heading out for an evening, most new mothers need a break from breastfeeding. That is when breast pumps come in handy. 

A breast pump is a useful tool that allows you to fill a baby bottle with your breast milk and it can also help maintain the milk supply for your baby. It can help relieve engorgement and can create a backup stash for the freezer in case you are away. Pumping milk may seem like a daunting task at first because of the flanges, tubes, and suction, but it is not complicated once you get the hang of it. 

How should you begin pumping?

A few steps at the start of each pumping session can help make sure that you produce the most milk for your pumping buck. This first step is to relax. You need to look for a comfortable, quiet spot and relax as much as possible. Take some deep breaths and do a five-minute meditation or easy some yoga stretches. 

Then, encourage letdown. A soft breast massage, a warm compress and leaning over and gently shaking your breasts can get your breasts ready. Hold your baby close, cuddle him or her to help with the letdown. If you are away from home, you can look at the photo of your child, listen to a recording of the baby's sounds or you can close your eyes and imagine your baby's smell, or imagine them in your arms and picture his or her face. 

It is also important that you create a good seal. You can use a small amount of lanolin on the nipple and areola so the pump flange will slide smoothly. Or, if you find that it helps, you can moisten the flange with water to make sure that it has a good seal. Center the nipple to the middle of the flange before you start pumping. 

Most electric pumps will start with a letdown phase like shorter and faster bursts of suction that mimic the initial suckling your child would do in order to stimulate letdown. It usually takes a few minutes until the letdown happens and before then, you will only get drops to a slow trickle of milk. After a few minutes, the pump will switch to regular mode. Remember, do not default to the highest level of suction. You will want to start at low suction and increase it slowly when the milk starts flowing. 

What are the benefits of pumping?

As mentioned above, there are a lot of reasons why a mother would pump her breast milk. For example, relieving engorgement and boosting the milk supply and also collecting milk for feedings when she is away from her baby. 

If you pump and you store your breast milk, you can continue to give your baby all of the benefits that come from breast milk long after you have stopped nursing. And for mothers who want to feed their babies breast milk but can't nurse them for reasons like low supply or poor latch, pumping can make sure that you can still offer your baby that liquid gold. 

No matter what the reason is, pumping has a lot of benefits for mothers. You will be able to go back to work and still give your baby breast milk. You do not have to be the only one responsible for feeding your baby, your partner or caregiver can help out too.

Pumping allows you to build your milk supply even before the baby needs more milk, thus allowing you to store the extra for later down the road. It also gives you the chance to donate your extra milk to mothers who can't breastfeed their babies themselves but still want to give their baby the benefits of breast milk. 

ALSO READ: How to Set up the Perfect At Home Breast Pump Station