Providing Breastmilk

Because of surgery, prematurity, and/or other medical reasons, your baby may not be able to nurse, but you can pump your milk until your baby is able to start breastfeeding again.

Rmember! The more frequent you breastfeed or pump, the more milk you will produce You should plan on pumping your breastmilk as often as the baby nurses (every 2-3 hours), or at least 5 times in 24 hours  In addition, it is important for you to rest whenever possible and to have nutritious meals, snacks, and plenty of fluids Our hospital provides free drinks like milk and juices for breastfeeding moms  Just let the nurses know that you are breastfeeding or pumping

Collection of Breastmilk:  Pumping

Equipment

• You can express your milk with a hand pump, battery pump, or electric pump 
• Electric breastpumps work best for long-term hospitalized babies
• WIC will provide electric breastpumps to mothers of premature babies
• If you need help in locating a pump, talk to your nurse or unit dietitian

Preparation

• Wash your hands before handling your breasts and any of the pump equipment that touch the breasts or the milk with hot soapy water
• Do not wash your breasts with soap 
• Rub a little breastmilk into your nipples and let them air dry
• Center your nipple in the breast shield (the horn) – don’t let nipple rub
• Adjust the pump setting on low to start Then increase it to your comfort level

Hand Pumps

• When using hand pumps, pull the plunger gently about halfway out for the first minute of two
• Then pull plunger about once every second – this imitates the baby’s nursing rhythm

Time Frame

• Pump 10-15 minutes each breast
• Pump your milk at least 5 times in 24 hours and/or whenever your breasts feel full

Special Note

Stress can cause a temporary drop in milk supply, and any amount of breastmilk is better than none!  Try to relax and think of your baby while you’re pumping

Breastmilk Storage

• Use glass or hard plastic bottles for storage
• Do not use sandwich or storage bags
• While your baby is in the hospital, the unit will supply you with glass or plastic bottles
• Fill each bottle with 2 ounces of breast milk or less to prevent wasting (once your baby has begun feeding from an pened ottle, the leftover milk cannot be saved or refrigerated for the next feeding)
• You ay choose to dd chilled breastmilk to a bottle containing already-frozen milk
• Date your container at time of collection so that the oldest milk can be used first

Milk Transportation

• Use a small ice chest with ice to transport the breast milk to hospital
• If thawing occurs in transport, refrigerate and use within 24 hours
• Shake the container vigorously to mix milk before feeding baby

Storage Time Guidelines

 
Breastmilk Defrosting Methods

There are two methods of defrosting breastmilk provided here for your reference:

1 Place container of breastmilk in refrigerator the night before it is used
2 Place under warm running water or in a pan of warm water – DO NOT use hot water
*  NEVER microwave breastmilk - this may change or destroy its composition and unevenly heated milk may burn the baby’s mouth