Hand Expression in Breastfeeding
Hand Expression in Breastfeeding“You’re doing a great job.”Amanda Rose Walsh has been a mom for just a few weeks. She had always planned on breastfeeding, butshe says she never realized how rewarding it would be, for both her and her new daughter, Arya.“It's really a beautiful time with my baby. It's me and her, we are bonding. I’m making this incredible milkfor her that fits her needs, and it's extraordinary. “But breastfeeding did not come easy for Arya, who didn’t latch for the first twelve hours.“I was starting to feel like, “My baby is not eating. What am I going to do?” “What Amanda did is called hand expression. She learned how to compress areas of her breasts to producemilk, which can then be collected into a small container or spoon and fed to the baby.Hand expression is often used when a newborn, like Arya, is not latching to “tempt” the baby to feed. It’s also away to collect milk for use when a mom is away from her newborn.Hand expression worked for Amanda: she massaged a little breast milk onto Arya’s gums, and the baby soonstarted latching.Arya was able to get colostrum, the first milk a mother produces. And Amanda gained peace of mind, knowingher baby was getting all the nutrients and antibodies a newborn needs.“I’ve gotta tell you about my class the other day…”Lactation consultant Rachel Levine teaches hand expression. She says it can be beneficial for all moms inthose first few weeks.“The breasts are most receptive during the first 2 to 4 weeks. So you get the best milk supply if youstart removing milk very soon after delivery, and then continue to remove milk frequently.”“Congratulations on the birth of little Solomon; he’s a beautiful guy. “Marin Skariah gave birth to baby Solomon just two days ago.This morning, Rachel is working with her on the steps of hand expression.“The first thing that you want to do before you hand express is wash your hands of course, and I knowyou did wash your hands. They are nice and clean. ““Thank you.”You want to make sure the container into which you will express your milk is clean.“The next thing you want to do is kind of prep the breast by massaging. So, you can have one hand onthe top, one hand on the bottom, and you want to roll your breast between your hands moving from wayThis program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.HCOB1004798 EN HandExpressionInBreastfeeding.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 2Hand Expression in Breastfeedingback on your breast down toward your nipple. And when you get down to the nipple, you can walk yourfingers around the area a little bit. And then you want to get the sides too, and I think it's easier to useyour knuckles usually on the sides, it's just more comfortable. And this is gentle but firm pressure.”“And then once you have done that for about a minute, you are going to make a C-shape with yourfingers on the outside edge of your areola, and you are mostly going to use the first joint of your thumb,the first joint of your pointer finger. But it you find you don't get a nice amount of milk after a couple ofsqueezes, you can simply move that “C” around and turn it into a “U.” “Next, Rachel says it’s important to note the direction in which to move your fingers along the breast.“What you are going to do is press straight back into your chest; squeeze your fingers together and rollforward. “Then, keep repeating the motion.“You're looking for that “sweet spot,” where the milk flows easily. And that can change during thecourse of the expression, so if it moves around a little bit, that's just fine.”“And here comes the milk. Good job.”“This is not hard at all.”“It’s not hard, right? And the most important thing is you're not squeezing the nipple so that the milkcan flow easily out.”“Great job.”“Thank you.”Rachel says some women do have a bit of trouble getting started with hand expression. But in time it becomessecond nature.“You have to think about it in the beginning; you think about all the steps: press back, squeezetogether, push forward. But eventually, it will just become automatic and much simpler.”Amanda says she not only felt relief when she learned to hand express. She also gained more confidence as anew mom.“It felt completely empowering, because after this really long labor, and my baby not latching and notfeeding - to then be able to feed her and to get her to latch and to have an option, it was incredible. I feltreally capable; and I think it set us up for a very positive breast-feeding relationship because … itworked.”This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.HCOB1004798 EN HandExpressionInBreastfeeding.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 2 of 2
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