Mom's milk is the best protection for a baby in the first months or even years of his life. The longer you manage to breastfeed your baby, the better it will be for him. And pumping helps to establish breastfeeding.
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Don't buy a breast pump before birth, as many mothers do. You may not need it if you have enough milk and your baby can suckle effectively. If there is enough milk, the baby eats up, feels great and gains weight in accordance with the norms, then you do not need to express. But if there are problems, such as a lack or excess of milk, then, of course, pumping is necessary.
Milk in the breast should be produced exactly as much as the baby needs. If he does not have enough milk, then regular pumping will effectively help increase his milk production. If there is more sacred drink in the breast than the baby needs, then it is imperative to express what remains after feeding, so that stagnation does not occur. Experts also call this unpleasant phenomenon lactostasis, which can subsequently develop into a serious disease - mastitis. It requires serious treatment and a temporary cessation of feeding, in general, the thing is extremely unpleasant, so it is better not to bring it up to it.
How to express breast milk
It is very convenient to express breast milk with an electric breast pump. In this case, you only need to do everything correctly, according to the instructions, connect and press the button. Then, when there is no milk left in the breast, turn off the breast pump, and do the same with the second breast. But for such convenience you will have to pay decent money. The average price of a quality electric breast pump is several thousand rubles.
A manual breast pump is less convenient, but it also costs much less. Place the breast pump funnel on your breast and use the handle to express excess milk. Alternate arms because they will tire quickly.
There are women who are generally more comfortable expressing with their hands. To do this, take a warm shower, sit in a comfortable chair, put black tea with milk next to it and drink it in small sips. Take a clean cup or bowl where you will be expressing. Press on the nipple with your thumb and forefinger, thin streams of milk will beat out of it, and at the end drops will flow out, they will help you understand that there is no milk left in the breast and you can finish the procedure.
Expressing milk is a rather laborious process, but for some it turns out to be even pleasant. Entrust this procedure to your spouse, he will gladly agree to help you, or ask for a light back massage while you are expressing milk from your breast.
