Breastmilk is precious, so what mum doesn't want to express more of it?
The hands-on pumping technique is one you may not have heard of, but if done correctly it can DOUBLE the amount of milk you express.
Sounds too good to be true? Trust us, it isn’t.
A study carried out by Jane Morton and her colleagues in 2009 published in the Journal of Perinatology proved that a combination of a mother’s hands, as well as a breast pump, expressed far more milk than with a breast pump alone. The mums in the study were pumping for pre-term babies, and were under pressure to produce as much milk as possible. By employing the hands-on pumping technique, on average they pumped 48% more milk.
And as drained breasts produce milk faster, the hands-on technique can actually boost your overall milk production too.
Here’s how you can easily do it at home:
Hands-on breast pumping (takes 20-25 minutes)
1. Start by massaging both breasts.
2. Double pump, and compress your breasts as much as possible while pumping. (Invest in a hands-free pumping bra that fits any brand of pump, allowing you to double pump hands free.)
3. Continue until the milk flow slows to a trickle.
4. Massage your breasts again, especially the areas that feel particularly full.
5. To finish, either hand express your milk into the pump’s nipple tunnel or single pump, depending on the technique that yields the most milk. Throughout this step, employ intensive breast compression on both breasts.
6. Alternate on each breast several times until you’ve drained both breasts as much as possible.
And you're done!
Have you tried this technique yourself mums? Did you find you expressed significantly more milk? We’d love to hear from you!
