In life with a newborn or infant, there can be a variety of reasons why expressing breast milk may be necessary or helpful. Regularly expressing breast milk immediately after birth is important for stimulating milk production when babies, due to premature birth or illness, are separated from the mother or are still too weak to breast feed. When women return to work soon after giving birth, but still want to feed their child with nutritious breast milk, a breast pump is a regular companion for the mother. There are many reasons why a nursing mother may at times or in phases need to strip or express milk such as when medical examinations or therapy require a pause from breastfeeding or the mother simply wants a little break from everyday baby life.
Whether stripping milk from the breast by hand or expressing with a pump, it is necessary to trigger the let-down reflex so that the milk, through the action of the hormone oxytocin, is squeezed out of the alveoli and into the mammary ducts. Triggering of the let-down reflex can be supported by:
Some women manage very well with stripping milk from their breasts by hand, which has the advantage of being possible to do anytime and anywhere. In doing so, they place a hand on their breast so the thumb is on top and the fingers are on the bottom of the breast about 2-3 cm behind the nipple. The hand is gently pushed horizontally toward the chest while the thumb and index finger move forward together. This process is repeated in a rhythmic fashion while moving the hand around the breast. For expressing milk with a pump, there are single or double electric pumps as well as manual pumps available. To collect the milk, a suitable glass or plastic bottle is screwed onto the pump which can then be used for feeding or freezing the milk. If long-term expressing is necessary, a double electric pump is recommended which can also be obtained by prescription from hospitals or medical centres. For occasionally expressing milk, a hand pump is quite sufficient. It is relatively inexpensive, light, quiet and does not need electricity. An added benefit would be if the pump has an adjustment for the suction strength (such as the Manual Breast Pump from MAM). This way, the baby’s natural sucking rhythm can be mimicked. Start with short, rapid pumps to stimulate. Once the milk starts to drip, switch to slower and longer pumping intervals.
Breast milk can be kept in sterilised glass bottles, BPA-free hard plastic bottles and cups or in specially designed breast milk storage bags. Freezer bags or ice cube trays are not recommended.
Since breast milk has anti-infective ingredients, it can be stored for a relatively long time: 5-8 hours at room temperature, 3-5 days in the refrigerator at 4 ° C, for two weeks in the ice compartment of a fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer at -18 ° C. This depends on carefully observing the storage temperature and paying close attention to hygiene. To defrost, place the milk in the fridge, under warm, running water, or in a warm water bath. Using a microwave oven is not a suitable method for defrosting. Thawed, but not yet heated milk can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After warming, tough, any leftover milk should be discarded after 1-2 hours.