Just out of curiosity:  How did those of us over, say, 45 learn hand expression?  

All I remember is being desperate to get some extra milk out in the early days (and nights) after my son was full, and leaning over a bathroom sink trying to duplicate what he did.  Once I started getting spurts, I figured I was doing it right.  I don't remember any specific instruction.  

Is it possible we've intimidated mothers into not performing these same desperation experiments on themselves, because we tell them there's A Way To Do It?  So I'm curious: those of us who are older, did we learn from a book or did we just figure it out?  Or did we not do it at all?  I wouldn't say I was a whiz at it, but I knew I could drain a breast if I had to.

Ah.  Possibly I used this, from the thin blue Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (this is the whole hand expression section):

Wash your hands.  Cup the breast in your hand, placing your thumb above and forefinger belowe the breast, on the edge of the dark area (areola), and simply squeeze them together.  Don't slide the finger and thumb out toward the nipple.  Don't worry if nothing comes out the first few times you try it; you'll get the knack soon.  Rotate your hand slightly back and forth several times in order to reach all the milk ducts.  The ducts radiate out from the nipple to the back of the breast where they widen to become the "storage places" for the milk.  You may get only a tiny drop or so at first, but this is encouraging proof that the milk is there.  *Persistence* and *confidence* are the key words here.  After you have worked on one side for about 3 to 5 minutes, start expressing from the other breast, repeating the process described above.  Then, do each side once more.  This changing back and forth gives the milk more of a chance to come down the ducts, and you will be able to get a bit more each time.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com  

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