At 06:44 AM 28/11/00 -0500, Sarah wrote:

> > Debbie was asking how much I would expect to get from hand expressing and
> > using a hospital grade pump in the first 24 hours or so postpartum.  We
> > NEVER use a hospital grade pump or even a hand pump until lactogenesis
> > II.  Hand expressing is the recommended technique.
>
>Just curious - Why do you say this so emphatically?

Hmmmm it was rather emphatic wasn't it?  It wasn't meant as a directive to
others, just as a statement of fact of what happens in my experience.

I must admit that I have a distinct preference for hand expressing until
there's a significant volume of milk for the pump to work on.  I think the
advantages are that it is more gentle on a soft breast with minimal milk
volume, hand expressing is more likely to obtain more milk at this stage,
the small volume obtained is more easily collected to be given to the baby,
I feel it is less threatening to approach a new mother with a medicine cup
to say 'let's express' then it is to approach with an electric breast pump,
and my personal opinion is that it keeps breastfeeding more natural,
particularly for those mothers who may never again need to express their
milk.

Is using an electric breast pump so early just a continuation of the
technical birth experience?

Even for mothers who will need to express longer term and use a pump I
recommend that mothers start and finish each mechanical pumping session
with a minute or so of hand expressing.  Before the session it can
stimulate the MER and to finish the session it will get a few more mls when
the pump says there's nothing left, and those few mls increase the fat
content of the expressed milk.

Denise

*************************************************
Denise Fisher BN, RN, RM, IBCLC
BreastEd Online Lactation Studies
++++++ earn 120 L CERPs +++++++++
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.BreastEd.com.au

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