Breast milk decanting is the release of milk from the breast. You need to know how to properly decant after giving birth, this is something that every breastfeeding mom will definitely have to do.

There is an inverse relationship in the body — the release of the breast contributes to the production of milk, and vice versa, if the baby eats little breast milk, it contributes to a decrease in lactation. This is the main thing to keep in mind.

How does it work?

1. Lactation decreases if — after breastfeeding there is milk left in the breast, or rather in the mammary gland, the body responds to this signal;
2. Lactation increases if during feeding the breast is fully emptied, but the baby is not full and continues to suckle.

When does a mother need to pump her milk?

• If there is not enough milk. For example, right after birth. You need to pump until you have enough milk. Start within the first 6 hours after birth, especially if the baby cannot be breastfed.
• When there is a strong surge of milk. On the 2nd or 3rd day after the birth (sometimes later), when the breasts are too full and become very tight, in that case you should pump a small amount of milk before feeding, so that the breasts are a little softer and the baby can more easily grasp them.
• In case of painful feelings in the breast. In cases where you are bothered by pain, engorgement, thickening and other discomfort in the breast. All of these symptoms can be associated with both excessive milk flow and stagnation.
• To maintain lactation when it is not possible to attach the baby to the breast due to the mother’s condition:
  • C-section or complications of childbirth — carried out until the mother’s condition improves;
  • The mother’s illness requiring treatment or examination with drugs that are contraindicated or restricted during breastfeeding;
  • The decanting is done for the whole period of treatment, 10-12 times a day, and as long as it takes for the medicine to be eliminated from the blood. This is not necessary after X-rays and fluoroscopy;
  • Temporary absence of the mother, when for some reason (doctor’s visit, work, business trip) one or more feedings are missed. To keep the baby’s breast milk, it makes sense to create a breast milk bank;
  • When you finish breastfeeding to prevent lactastasis.

You should not wean your baby to the last drop, but to relieve the milk, otherwise it will come again.

• To ensure that the baby is breastfed, if there are contraindications to the baby to the breast. It is necessary to express milk if you are not breastfeeding, in the case when:
  • the baby was born prematurely and has no or reduced suckling reflex
  • the baby is sick, in a serious condition, in the intensive care unit or intensive care unit

Is it necessary to pump the milk after each feeding?

When mother and baby are together, the breast very quickly begins to produce as much milk as the baby needs and it is not necessary. If you do not have the above reasons, you do not need to pump your breasts after each feeding.

If you squeeze milk after a feeding, it can lead to an increase in lactation. The milk will come in surplus, more than the baby needs. The baby will not be able to suckle more than he needs, then the cycle closes. This takes a lot of time and energy, which a breastfeeding mom does not have much of. Constant overmilking and pumping increases the risk of stagnation, lactastasis, and mastitis.

Why you need pumping at all

Why you need to decant milk:

• To keep milk flowing;
• To get more milk;
• For lactastasis;
• For stagnant milk;
• If the breasts are stiff;
• When weaning, if your breasts feel uncomfortable or full.

There are two methods of how milk can be pumped:

• Manual pumping of breast milk;
  • Pumping the milk with a breast pump.

Many people think that it is better, by hand, because it is fast, gentle on the breast and more close to natural feeding. Each method has its own advantages.

If you know how to pump by hand and know how to do it, you can do it anytime and anywhere. If there is no skill, you can traumatize the delicate breast tissue and even get an infection, in such cases it is better to use a breast pump.

How not to properly pumping

In order to properly decant breast milk to treat the mammary gland should be very careful.

You should not:

• squeeze the nipple, it hurts and makes no sense, there is no milk in the nipple;
• Squeeze too hard, until you feel pain;
• Rubbing, rubbing, scratching the skin;
• If stagnation occurs, squeeze too much milk until it empties completely: to prevent stagnation it is enough to squeeze the breast not completely.

Breast tissue is very sensitive to any physical touch. It is unacceptable to press, squeeze, intensely knead the breast, put pressure on it, try to «break» hardening and seals with your hands.

Techniques for proper manual decanting

• Sit comfortably and tune in to the process;
  • Take a sterile milk container and place it under your breast;
  • Squeeze the breast for 5-7 minutes, then move to the second breast, also 5-7 minutes, and then return to the first breast, and so on until the emptying of both breasts in case if the attachment to the breast is not possible yet;
  • In the same case, it is recommended to use both breasts every three hours, this rhythm will help maintain and stimulate lactation;
  • Put your fingers in a ring and then relax when milk appears.

How to pump the breast properly with your hands

It is necessary to wash your hands thoroughly and prepare a sterile container. The process consists of 2 steps:

1. You need to prepare the breast and know how to massage the breast before the procedure. To properly decant breast milk with your hands:
2. To improve the outflow of milk, you can drink a hot drink, such as tea with milk, warm the breasts with dry heat;
3. Slightly massaging the breast increases the production of prolactinwiki, which is responsible for the synthesis of milk, and increases the release of oxytocinwiki, which facilitates the flow of milk through the milk ducts. To do this, position your hands in a certain way;
4. When you squeeze the right breast, fold the right hand in a boat shape and lift the breast with it. The left hand is placed on top, with the fingers slightly in the armpit area;
5. Make 3-4 movements, gently stroking the chest, directing the right hand up and the left hand down in a clockwise direction.
6. How to squeeze milk with your hands. The correct positioning of the palms and fingers of the hands:
7. The large breast is best supported with the palm of your hand. The thumb and index finger pads place on the areola, about 3 cm from the nipple;
8. Slightly press the breast to yourself with the fingers, and then begin to bring the fingers closer to each other, thus squeezing the nipple a little.
9. There should be no pain. If there is pain, it means that you have placed your fingers far away from the nipple, and they are capturing the sensitive glandular tissue;
10. You need to move your fingers closer to the nipple. This will help you to decant the colostrum with your hands, even when it is stagnant.

If you do it right, after a few finger actions, the milk will start to come out of your breast, either in drips or trickles. This will allow you to quickly decant the breast milk with your hands, literally in 5-10 minutes. Slightly moving your fingers closer to or farther from the nipple, moving them in a circle, you can find the optimal location and work on all the milk ducts

Hand pumping milk is not painful. If the process causes discomfort — then you are doing something wrong and it will be better if you consult a specialist.

How often you can pump your breast

You should express your milk often: every 3 hours, 7-8 times a day, as when feeding the baby, in order not to lose the milk. With long intervals the milk may not be produced in the required amount. How many times a day — depends on the situation and the task.

It is easy to squeeze soft breasts by hand, with engorgement and painfulness is much more difficult. In cases of lactastasis or if you need a lot of milk, it is better to use a breast pump. How to use a breast pump correctly.

If you need pumping for medical reasons, a breast pump will be more convenient and easier, especially for a first-time mother with no experience. The manual one needs to be learned.

Knowing how to use a breast pump correctly provides a number of benefits:

• There is no need for serious physical effort on the part of the woman;
• There are no painful sensations (even nipple retraction reduces the risk of nipple traumatization;
• All parts of the mammary gland are involved at the same time;
• There is less risk of bacterial contamination of the milk (the milk goes straight to the special container);
• It is easier to pump the breast, in the presence of pain, swelling, engorgement.

Milk pumps can be stationary or individual:

• Stationary ones are used in hospitals, these have several programs that the doctor selects;
  • Individual breast pumps are manual and electric;
  • Currently, all breast pumps have adjustable speed and power;
  • They are created taking into account the anatomic features of a woman’s breasts — from safe materials;
  • They are equipped with breast pumps.

Depending on how often you need to squeeze depends on what machine to choose, if every day, then a single electric breast pump or a manual breast pump if occasionally. The secondary criteria will be how fast and for how long you will need to do it.

If you have to pump your breasts long and often, it is better to use an electric dual pump. This saves time, promotes hormone levels, and stimulates milk synthesis later. It is this method that allows you to quickly and completely decant even the back milk, thereby getting more calorie nutrition for your baby.

How to properly decant the breast with a breast pump — described in detail in the instructions for each machine. This is helped by an electric motor or a special mechanism that creates a vacuum, as when the baby correctly grips the breast. As a result, milk begins to be released from the breast. There are breast pumps that fully simulate the process of sucking.

In order to fully release the breast and to do it as quickly as possible, it is optimal: first you need to put the baby to the breast, then use a manual or electric breast pump, and finally with your hands to release the back milk completely.

New breast pumps are now available that perfectly replicate the sucking process of the baby and help relieve stagnant milk, and even rocky breasts, that is, when it is almost impossible to do it by hand.

How long does it take to decant?

It is optimal to squeeze the breast for at least 5 and no more than 20-30 minutes. Understanding how much time you need, you will not have a question how much milk you can pump at a time, and how long to do it. As much as the breast has produced, no more.

Depending on how much milk is left in the breast you will know — when to stop, while the milk comes out a trickle — continue pumping.

In the very first days it is literally a few drops of colostrum, but every drop is very valuable. How many ml of milk should be — will depend on each individual case. Guided by the state of your breast — the feeling of emptying and emptiness in the chest — a sign that enough. As a rule, you do not have to squeeze milk for a long time, if you know how and know how to do it, to the last drop to release the breast will not work, because in drops it continues to be produced constantly.