Hi all,
I just wanted to comment on the Medela handout that
shows how to hand express.  I have had many, many moms
interpret that handout to mean they pull their breast
out and squeeze.  The pictures do tend to look that
way.  When I actually show them that they need to
press inward and compress their fingers together, not
pull out, they are amazed that they actually get milk
right away.  "No one ever showed me that!" they say.
There is a video, "A Premie Needs its Mother", I
believe is the title, which shows how to hand express
very effectively.  When I would show moms in the NICU
how to get colostrum in the first days postpartum,
they and the nurses were amazed that they were able to
get colosrum as they had tried themselves (based on
the picture on the handout) and were unsuccessfull.
By pressing in instead of pulling out, I have seen the
colostrum squirt out a ways, even.
Anyway, my point is that I now don't give that handout
to moms unless I can demonstrate to them at the same
time.  Otherwise, I find that they look at the
pictures on that handout and are unsuccessfull and
throw out the idea of hand expression.

Regards,
Cindi Swisher, RN, IBCLC
Colorado Springs, CO
--- laurie wheeler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

 I also give the Medela handout on
> engorgement and hand
> expression, making sure to show mom briefly how to
> do hand expression. Often
> I get moms who tell me they could not get a pump or
> could not afford or had
> no transportation. I remind them of these
> techniques. I try to remember
> always to tell them prior to d/c that you can always
> express when you want
> or need to if you refer to these 2 handouts.
>




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