Expressing Your Milk

You can express your breastmilk manually or via a breast pump. You should express milk when baby miss a feed so as to keep the supply coming in. However, not all women are good at expressing milk (that includes me)! When I mean "not good at", I mean the low quantity of milk expressed out.

But, not to worry! All breastfeeding consultants tell us that the quantity of milk expressed is usually lesser than the quantity babies receive when they breastfeed. And I personally experience that -- when I express milk, the maximum amount I could get is about 140ml (and that is from full breasts). Sometimes, I only get about 80ml or even lesser. But when I put baby to the breasts, I could feel more frequent let-downs as compared to using a breast pump.

"Let-down reflex" is the automatic reaction by which the body makes milk available in the breasts. It is a complicated chemical chain reaction of which you are quite unaware until you feel tingling in your breasts and then the milk surges into the nipple area. by Dr Miriam Stoppard

How Then Can I Maximise The Quantity I Express?

- Always massage your breasts before milk expressing to facilitate the milk flow.

- Express manually first when you have very full breasts. You will be surprised at the amount you get because the milk goes directly into the container and does not travel through any passage ways as compared to that of a breast pump. When you are done expressing manually, that is milk starts coming in drips rather than jets, you can then switch to a breast pump. As the breast pump gives a different type of stimulation, you may get another let-down very quickly.

- Use a good breast pump. Better still, one which has double pumps because let-downs come simultaneously at the two breasts. Personally, I prefer an electric one but some women prefer manual ones. I am using Medela PIS; it has double pumps and is not too loud so you can use it at night or in the early hours.

- Express milk in the morning. After a good night's sleep, you will usually have more milk to express.

- Last of all, relax.

Storage of Milk :

- Room temperature --> 2 hours
- Fridge (right inside, away from the door)--> 8 days
- Freezer (do not place at the door)--> 3 months