Nikki,
You are so right! Making friends with your breasts is important. I love 
Maya Bolman's breast massage and hand expression video because it is 
clear you have to warm up the breast and coax the milk out. Skin to 
skin, gentle massaging, the famous Russian tapping of the breast, set 
the stage for successful colostrum (and mature milk) removal. I do find 
if we are struggling with hand expression that tapping helps.
It can take 5-15 minutes to feel the oxytocin. Be patient. Tell families 
it takes a while to get the milk moving. Doing skin to skin before 
starting is a great idea.
Also, you can't just do it yourself. You have to teach the family how to 
hand express. I have found in my area many mothers have had hand 
expression done to them by nurses or IBCLCs but have no idea how to do 
it themselves. Yes, help them get out the colostrum but then take the 
time to teach them how to do it.
Warmly,

-- 

Barbara Robertson, MA, IBCLC, RLC
The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor
bfcaa.com

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