The implication of the Medela Breast Milk Commercial that women will need a breast pump if they plan to breastfeed got me wondering — in the last two months, have you used a pump? Was it electric or manual, or do you prefer to hand express?id you not require a pump or hand expression in the last two months? What is your opinion on whether a breast pump is necessary? As a stay-at-home mother, I used a manual pump with my first child but quickly found that my baby would not take a bottle and I only needed to express …read more

Remember when I interviewed Dr. Jane Morton about breastfeeding education for medical professionals? Remember when I mentioned her free online video on hand expression of breast milk? Well today I learned from About.com Breastfeeding that Dr. Morton has another fascinating free video online, this time about increasing breast milk supply when it is necessary to pump for a baby in the NICU or any baby not nursing well at the breast. It is called “Maximizing Milk Production” and in 9 minutes 35 seconds, it explains how to increase milk supply without medication. Dr. Morton recommends and demonstrates such techniques as …read more

Welcome to the June Carnival of Breastfeeding: Pumping It Up! Check out all the contributions on the topic of pumping and hand expression at the end of this post.
Here at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 I am pleased to share this guest post from Holly, whose son has benefited from her exclusive pumping over the last 10 months!
Breastfeeding, Pumping, and Cleft Palate, by Holly
The breastfeeding relationship I share with my son is nothing like I expected it would be.
He was born last August, healthy in every way but one–he had a cleft palate. Nine days after his birth, we ended up …read more

For the June Carnival of Breastfeeding we’re calling for submissions on the topics of pumping and hand expression. I am hoping this will be our biggest carnival yet, because I know there a lot of mommy bloggers out there who have experience and advice to share on many subjects relating to pumping or hand expression.
Potential subjects include:
- Buying or renting a pump
- Pumping while in the hospital
- Going back to work
- Pumping while traveling
- Hand expression as an economical and effective alternative to pumping
- Pump reviews
- Exclusively pumping
- How to get a baby to take a bottle
- Nipple confusion …read more

Think hand expression is unnecessary or too difficult? Dr. Jane Morton offers a free video that demonstrates how to teach mothers (or how to learn for oneself) the technique for hand expression of breast milk. When I interviewed Dr. Morton last March, she mentioned new research that suggests that hand expression used in conjunction with pumping in the first three days is much more effective in promoting subsequent milk production than pumping alone. She said if women were taught to hand express in the first three days after giving birth, their milk production could be boosted significantly and fewer women …read more