On 31/01/2007, at 0:07, Kirsten Berggren wrote:

> Also, don't forget the psychological piece of pumping. If mom is  
> very concerned with output and counting the ml as they come out,  
> she's not likely to be able to pump much. some moms have a stronger  
> stress-related inhibition of let-down than others. Tell the mom not  
> to look at the bottles until 15 minutes have passed, and help her  
> to work on relaxation, deep breathing, and that kind of thing while  
> she is pumping. Even distracting her can help - hook her up to the  
> pump and get her talking about something completely unrelated (but  
> non-stressful) like sports, her family, childhood memories...
> Also, and I can't remember if anyone mentioned this already, breast  
> compressions while pumping help with output a lot. She can hold the  
> pump flanges between her first two fingers, then use her thumb and  
> last two fingers to massage and compress her breasts.

It's much, much easier to compress and massage, or to ignore the  
flanges, while wearing a home-made hands free bra. Any snug but soft  
pregnancy or sports bra can be quickly modified by marking the place  
and cutting a small slit or X. If necessary, snaps, hook/eyes, or  
elastic can be sewn in to hold the flanges more firmly in place.

Then the mum can do whatever else she wants to or needs to while  
pumping - read, check email, relax (even doze off, if the pump has a  
cutoff or an alarm is set, and she's confident that the flanges won't  
slip!), tend to her baby, eat a meal, or slip her hands in the bra  
and compress/massage.

Lara Hopkins

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