Hand Expression for NICU/Preemie Families
It is important to know that hand expression of the breasts in the first hour after birth super charges the families milk making abilities.
How can hand expression help your family?
The body needs lots of breast stimulation after baby is born to know baby survived and needs to be fed in order to make lots of milk, because baby wont be on the chest, this job falls to families. Families can do this by doing hand expression, this allows families to send messaging to the parents breasts and brain to make lots of milk and collect precious colostrum which is vital for the health of their baby.
Videos For Learning
Breast stimulation in the first hour and first 24 hours after birth is key to establishing good supply. This is best done with use of hand expression in the first hour followed by hands on pumping.
What is Hand Expression/Hands on Pumping?
Hand Expression is when a parent manually massages and compresses their breast (not nipple) to harvest colostrum and aid in collecting as much milk as possible while pumping. The body responds better and more colostrum is harvested using hand expression, and hands on pumping than a pump alone. Hands on pumping is compressing the breast while pumping and ending each pumping session with 5 minutes of hand expression. Hands on pumping is also show to help increase the fat content of the milk that is collected.
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