"I was wondering if holding the baby skin to skin on mom's chest while
pumping would help by raising hormone levels.
My idea is to put dad to work here.
Has anyone tried this?"

Yes, skin to skin while pumping would probably help w/milk production. So
would getting the baby directly on to mom's breast - even if she needs the
shield for the "business" part of feedings, my understanding is that the
mouth-to-skin contact is important to milk production. That the loss of that
direct stimulation is one reason why shields, even very thin silicone ones,
*may* cut down on milk production. And besides, skin-to-skin with a baby is
just about the most delicious sensation there is; it sounds like the mother
of this little one probably has been through some very worrisome and
difficult times, and for sure the baby has, so they would probably both
benefit from the healing that snuggling up together could bring.

I'm not too sure what you mean by putting dad to "work" in this situation!
Do you mean having dad bring baby to mom & helping to hold baby skin-to-skin
while mom's pumping? (I thought not!) Do you mean enlisting the dad to
provide mouth-to-skin stimulation to the breast? I know people who've tried
it & said it didn't work (at least in terms of milk production); they said
that the sensation is too different, and that (if you're talking about
active sucking, rather than just some gentle mouthing action) grown-ups have
"forgotten" how to do it right.

Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC Ithaca NY

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