Expressing milk

• To express colostrum or milk to give your baby, if they are unable to feed from the breast.
• To relieve fullness or engorgement of the breast or blocked milk ducts.
• To stimulate your breasts to produce more milk.
• Some women find using a breast pump easier, some prefer hand expressing and some do both. Using a pump in the early days is not an effective way to collect small volumes of colostrum.

How to hand express

1. Have a clean sterilised container to hand before you start.
2. Cup your breast and place your thumb and finger about 2-3 cm from the base of the nipple.
3. Using your thumb and the rest of your fingers in a C shape, gently squeeze this area – this shouldn’t hurt.
4. Release the pressure and then repeat again and again, building up a rhythm. Avoid sliding your fingers over the skin. At first, only drops will appear, but just keep going as it will help build up your supply. With practice and a little more time, milk will flow freely.
5. When the flow slows down, move your fingers round to try a different section of your breast and repeat. When this happens again swap to the other breast. Keep changing breasts until the milk is dripping very slowly or stops altogether.
6. If the milk doesn’t flow, try a gentle breast massage, cuddle your baby or someone you love, smell your baby or loved one, or gaze into their eyes – this will help to release the hormone oxytocin (the “love hormone”) which releases the milk in your breasts.

Storage and use of expressed breast milk:

• Expressed breastmilk can be kept for 4-6 hours at room temperature.
• You can store expressed breast milk in a sterilised container in the fridge for up to five days, or in a freezer for up to six months.
• Frozen milk is best defrosted slowly in the fridge. Expressed breast milk can be given straight from the fridge or warmed up by placing the bottle in a jug of warm water.
• Once defrosted, use within 12 hours and do not refreeze. Dispose of any unused milk following a feed.