I am also enjoying this conversation about breast compression with pause VS breast compression with suck VS NO breast compression.

I personally am a huge fan of breast compression and have been using this technique for 20 years. I mostly have moms do the compressions with a pause.

Maya Bolman IBCLC gave a wonderful talk on Russian Hand Massage at ILCA in 2014 (you can google her and her video). I was so excited to learn more about hands on breasts. 

I find the benefits to include:
Teaches moms to touch their breasts and become familiar with how they feel which helps them learn about their own breast landscape
Helps relieve engorgement and plugged ducts
Really helps baby’s that are underfeeding, feed better and longer - the baby’s that I include in underfeeding are late preterm, jaundice, preemies, sleepy etc.
Increases the fat content of the milk, (Sept Breastfeeding Medicine journal), Also Jane Morton’s work at Stanford.
Empowers mother’s, is easy and intuitive
In the first few days this technique can help mothers/babies avoid supplementation
I mostly teach mothers to do this when a baby pauses but if she wishes to compress with a suck that’s fine to. This is a rather gentle technique and I have not see baby’s loosing their latch. I just see baby’s drink more which makes us happy.

Star Siegfried RN,IBCLC
Arcata, CA




> From:    Attie Sandink <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Breast Compressions
> 
> I have been reading with great interest about breast compressions. In some cases I really see that it works during a bust or in between bursts. However I am finding that too many  mothers seem to be milking their breast and think they need compress all the time. They are losing the latch and breaking the babies seal. Have we ever really looked at this in a research based methodology. May we not be getting similar let downs and release of milk with lad back breastfeeding, albeit not the only answer but breast compressions have concerned me for a long time.
> Just a thought. Where is the research. We do see it improved milk flow when pumping but is that our only research and does that really equate to what happens with breastfeeding?
> Attie Sandink, Ontario Canada
> 


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