Breast compression or breast massage while nursing is a trick many of us have
found out about while breastfeeding our own babies. It was actually reported
in the literature in 1968 where it was named alternate massage as the breast
was compressed during the pauses between sucking bursts.

Iffrig MC: Nursing care and success in breastfeeding. Nursing Clinics of
North America 1968; 3:347-349

Two later articles detail the benefits of this technique in terms of
increasing the volume and fat content per feeding. I use this technique with
sleepy babies, slow gaining babies, preterm babies, etc. Each compression of
the breast increases the internal pressure (like a let down) which helps
create a more efficient pressure gradient from an area of high pressure (in
the breast) to an area of low pressure (inside the baby's mouth) so the fluid
flows better.

Bowles BC, Stutte PC, Hensley JH: New benefits from an old technique:
alternate massage in breastfeeding. Genesis 1987/1988; 9:5-5-9,17

Stutte PC, Bowles BC, Morman GY: The effects of breast massage on volume and
fat content of human milk. Genesis 1988; 10:22-25

Genesis is from ASPO/Lamaze

Marsha Walker
Weston, Massachusetts