MemorialCare - Your Guide to Postpartum and Newborn Care

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HAND EXPRESSION STEPS

Wash your hands with soap and hot water.

Select a clean storage container, bowl, or cup.

Expressing Breast Milk

Gently massage your breasts to increase milk flow, stroking gently from the top of the breast toward the nipple.

If you and your baby are separated during your hospital stay and you can’t breastfeed, it’s important that you pump or hand express breast milk to be fed to your baby. Start expressing within 1 hour (no longer than 6 hours) of your baby’s birth. Many hospitals will provide a breast pump for you to use. Skipping a feeding or not breastfeeding regularly signals your body to slow down or stop producing milk. That’s why it’s vital to frequently express your milk if breastfeeding isn’t an option. What to know • Use a double electric pump for about 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours (day and night) • Your goal is to do 8 pumping sessions in every 24-hour period • Be sure to track your milk production across every 24 hours • Your milk supply will increase daily over the first couple of weeks

Place your hand on your breast using a wide, C-shaped hold.

Press in toward your chest wall to start milk flowing into container.

HAND EXPRESSION You can also express your breast milk by hand instead of with a pump. Hand expression is a safe, effective way to express milk and a good option when you don’t have access to pumping equipment.

Gently squeeze your breast to express milk, then relax. Don’t rub or move your fingers on your skin. You may need to repeat these movements several times before the thick colostrum makes its way to the nipple.

SCAN + PLAY

Reasons to hand express • Helps reassure yourself that you have breast milk • Helps promote latch and increase milk volume • Expressed milk can be spoon-fed to your baby • Great companion skill (and back-up) to pumping What to know • Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water • Choose clean storage containers with airtight seals Hard plastic (BPA-free) or glass containers Special breast milk storage bags Avoid ordinary plastic storage bags that can leak or spill

Rotate your fingers to another position on the breast and repeat.

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Your Guide to Postpartum and Newborn Care