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Expressing breastmilk by hand is not only a “handy” skill to have, but it quite possibly could change the direction of your breastfeeding journey for the better. Learning how to hand express and when to do it is an important part of preparing for a successful lactation experience.
What is hand expression?
Hand expression is the oldest form of expressing breastmilk that there is, and yet is still an important and powerful skill to have in our modern age of electric breast pumps. Hand expression only requires three things: lactating breasts, hands, and a clean collection container.
Why hand express?
There are many reasons you might choose to hand express your milk:
To remove milk when away from your baby.
To relieve engorgement.
To collect colostrum during the end of the third trimester (with permission from your doctor or midwife).
To collect colostrum once your baby is born.
To trigger a letdown.
In an emergency when there is no electricity for using an electric breast pump.
To increase supply.
To increase output when pumping.
To replace pumping when your breasts aren’t responding well to a breast pump.
To help a baby who is having difficulty latching.
To stimulate milk production after birth if breastfeeding is delayed.
Many moms have found that hand expressing in the first few hours after birth can have an amazing influence on your milk supply and is more effective at removing colostrum (your first milk) and increasing supply than modern day breast pumps.
When can you hand express?
The great thing about hand expression is that you can do it any time, anywhere!
Hand expressing a little before or after nursing/pumping can help increase your supply, stimulate milk release and cue your body to make more milk when nursing challenges arise. Hand expression is also useful when you’re engorged and needing to relieve some pressure to feel more comfortable.
Practicing hand expression in the last couple weeks of pregnancy can help you feel more confident and prepared for breastfeeding. This is also a great opportunity to collect some of your first precious drops of liquid gold if you so choose.
How to hand express:
Place your thumb and forefinger on either side of the areola.
Gently press straight back towards your chest.
Compress your thumb and forefinger together.
Release, letting go of your breast.
Continue steps 1-4 multiple times until milk flow slows down, expressing a little longer if trying to increase supply.
You may find that moving the position of your fingers to a new spot on the breast when the milk starts to slow down helps you to get more milk. Over time you will learn the most effective method for your body. The key is to avoid placing your fingers too close to the nipple while also avoiding placing them too far back on the breast. Play around with it to find the sweet spot.
In the beginning, it will take time and patience to get the hang of hand expression and see results. Don’t expect to remove milk with your first few compressions. When babies nurse, it takes a minute or two before they start receiving any milk and you can expect the same with hand expression and pumping. The first compressions are important for cueing your breasts to start releasing milk. Be patient.
Doing some gentle massage on your breasts to help you relax and stimulate your milk ducts can be a helpful accompaniment to hand expression. When massaging the breast, you will want to use pressure similar to what you use when rubbing in lotion. Although it seems like a tedious task, especially in the beginning, once getting the hang of hand expression, many moms find they express more milk by hand than with a breast pump, and at a faster rate!
Colostrum collectors can be very helpful when hand expressing prenatally or in the first few days after birth since you are collecting such a small amount. Once your mature milk starts to come in, using a wide-mouth collection container will help you catch all your precious milk without sacrificing some to the floor. Nipples are like a shower head and it’s sometimes difficult to control the direction of the spray of milk, especially when practicing. Any clean container will work. One example of a great collection container, designed specifically for hand expression, is the KindestCup. It was created to help make hand expression easier for nursing moms.
How to feed expressed milk to your baby:
If you are hand expressing colostrum, you will be collecting a very small amount to match your newborn’s tiny tummy capacity. Spoon feeding, syringe feeding, or feeding directly from a colostrum collector are most appropriate in the first few days after birth. If you’re expressing mature milk, which is collected in ounces, you can offer it to your baby with a cup, bottle, supplemental nursing system, or with finger feeding, depending on your breastfeeding goals. If you plan to bottle feed, check out our posts on How Breastfeeding & Bottle Feeding Differ, Introducing a Bottle to a Breastfed Baby and Paced Bottle Feeding.
Hand expression might seem daunting and time consuming but most moms find the benefits far outweigh the challenges of learning this essential skill. Be patient. Mastery takes practice.
Having trouble navigating hand expression? Contact Niki at Beholding Baby for some extra tips and encouragement!
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