Your baby’s best source of nutrition is breast milk. During the first six months after birth, breast milk is the only recommended source of nutrition for your baby. Although breast-feeding is recommended during this time, hand expressed milk is given to your baby, when you’re unable to feed the baby directly.
What is Hand-expression of Breastmilk?
Hand expression of breast milk, also known as manual expression. This is technique, when you use your hands to pump the milk of your breasts. This technique does not require any tool or device. Additionationally, more milk can be expressed through the hands than breast pumps.
When is Hand Expression Helpful?
The technique is handy when
- The breast pump stops working or it needs a new battery
- Your breasts are hard exactly before breastfeeding and you might want express them to soften them a little so that, your baby finds it easy it to latch on
- Your breasts feel too full
- You want to lure your baby by expressing some milk.
- Breast pumps appear expensive for you
- You’re collecting colostrum for your new-born
- You want to get rid of sore nipples
How to Hand Express?
Just like any skill, hand expression of milk is also a skill. Follow these steps:
- Clean your hands with soap and water
- Choose a comfortable position and relax. Keep warm towel on your breasts and give a slow massage to it, to let the milk flowing
- You can also keep your baby’s photo, or blanket with your baby’s scent on it, to stimulate your breast milk
- Keep a C-hold position to hold your breasts, place your thumb on the top and fingers underneath
- You also hold a clean collection cup or a milk storage bottle
- Use your thumb and finger to gently push your breast back
- Try lean a little forward
- Keep changing the breasts, if the flow stops
- You can either give your baby the milk right away or keep it in a bag to use it later on.
To Conclude
Although this is time consuming and a skill that needs practice, nothing can be as comfortable as hand -expression of milk.
Author Bio: Prapti Chauhan is a professor of Genetics in Bangalore. She has contributed to several online research papers. However, she passionately develops contents on pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, baby stem cell banking, umbilical cord lining and more.
