Is a regular breast pump good?

Many women have to go to work after giving birth, and can only express breast milk through their breasts. A breast pump is used when expressing milk. If a breastfeeding mother uses a breast pump frequently to express milk, it will cause certain damage to the breasts over a long period of time. In addition, the breast pump can easily cause the milk to not be completely sucked out, and it is easy to get mastitis. Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best to use a breast pump less often.

Is it good to use a regular breast pump?

If you use a breast pump frequently, your baby will not be interested in your breast when sucking through a bottle. It is troublesome to sterilize the breast pump and the bottle each time after using it. Some nutrients sucked out through the breast pump will be missing, which is not good for the baby's growth.

If women frequently use breast pumps to express milk, it will cause certain harm to their breasts. It is best to use breast pumps less often in normal times.

How to use a breast pump

Before using a breast pump, it is best for mothers to use a hot towel to warm your breasts for a few minutes to help milk flow out and relieve pain. Mothers can frequently change the position of the breast pump on the breast to stimulate the mammary glands. It is recommended that you practice using a breast pump until you find the most comfortable way, but if using a breast pump causes you pain, stop immediately and consult a doctor.

Precautions for using a breast pump

1. Preparation for expressing milk using a breast pump?

Before going to work, prepare a clean breast pump, 1 to 2 sterilized bottles or a special breast milk storage box (storage bag), an ice box or a thermal bag; wash your hands before expressing milk.

2. How and when to use a breast pump to express milk?

You can use a manual or electric breast pump, or you can simply use your hands to squeeze the breasts from the outside to the center to express milk. Generally, you can express milk when you feel your breasts are swollen. Mothers who have a good "running-in" with their babies will usually feel their breasts swollen and express milk when it is time to feed their babies. After work, you can use a breast pump to express milk once in the morning and once in the afternoon, or just once at noon, depending on how much milk you secrete. Each time you use a breast pump to express milk, you should try to empty both breasts until the breasts feel soft. This usually takes 10 to 20 minutes. If you are a mother who is preparing to wean your baby, you do not need to squeeze your breasts. As long as your breasts become soft and you don't feel any swelling or pain, that's enough.

When expressing milk, you can first perform a breast massage. Thinking about your baby or putting a photo of your baby during the massage can help stimulate the milk letdown reflex. It's possible to have more than one let-down while expressing, so you can alternate between expressing from one breast to the other.

3. Timing of using a breast pump to express milk

How long you should express your breast milk will depend on several factors:

If you're pumping both breasts at the same time, it should take 10 to 15 minutes.

If you only express one breast at a time, this should take 20 to 30 minutes.

If you use a manual breast pump to express milk, the expression time is even more difficult to estimate, which depends on the size of the negative pressure and the speed of expression. On average, 15 to 20 minutes of pumping per breast is sufficient. Pumping both breasts at the same time not only saves time, but also has the benefit of best stimulating milk production.