Can a breast pump help boost milk production?

I believe everyone should know that breastfeeding is the best way to feed compared to formula feeding, because it is more nutritious and more suitable for babies. Many mothers also know this and therefore insist on breastfeeding. However, sometimes there is not enough breast milk. In this case, some measures need to be taken to increase the milk supply. So can a breast pump increase the milk supply?

Can I use a breast pump to increase milk production?

Using a breast pump can help increase milk production. >Using a breast pump to express milk will accelerate milk secretion, which will stimulate the mother's body to make adjustments and form a virtuous circle. Many mothers who do not feel breast engorgement think that they do not have enough milk and do not allow their babies to suck more, let alone use a breast pump. In fact, when the baby sucks the mother's breast, it can stimulate the mother to secrete oxytocin, which is beneficial to increase the secretion of milk, so letting the baby suck more is beneficial to increase the amount of milk. If your baby is full, you can use a breast pump to suck out the excess milk to ensure sufficient milk. In fact, the mother’s lactation system is amazing. The more the baby sucks the breasts, the more milk will be secreted next time, because the signal received by the pituitary gland is “greater production is needed.”

The best way for breastfeeding mothers to increase milk supply is to use a breast pump for about 15 minutes on each side after the baby finishes feeding. In this case, the breast pump can often only suck out very little milk, or even nothing. Many mothers wait for their baby to finish feeding and then use the breast pump for two or three minutes, but give up if no milk comes out. In fact, you must not give up at this time. Although the milk has not been sucked out, the breast pump is constantly helping you stimulate your nipples and promote milk secretion.

For working mothers who cannot be with their babies often, regardless of whether they have milk or not, they should breastfeed every 2 hours, for 15 minutes on each side. If you persist for a week or so, you will definitely increase your breast milk production. After the production is basically stable, you can slowly lengthen the interval between breastfeeding, to once every 2.5 hours or once every 3 hours. This is up to the mothers to adjust themselves.

How to choose a breast pump

Choose a suitable breast pump according to the frequency of use: If you are a full-time working mother and need to squeeze out time from work to express breast milk, you can choose a fully automatic breast pump because it can suck milk from both breasts at the same time. If you only need to express some milk occasionally so that someone else can help feed your baby while you are out, then buying an inexpensive manual breast pump will be enough. A good breast pump will simulate the action of a baby sucking milk and will not cause pain during use.

The key points in choosing a breast pump are: 1. It has appropriate suction power; 2. It does not cause pain in the nipples when using it; 3. It can finely adjust the suction pressure. Generally speaking, the sucking pressure of a baby is 60-100 mmHg, but since sucking milk is not simply pulling the nipple, it is not enough to just choose a breast pump with strong suction.

Choose a breast pump with moderate suction power: Whether the breasts can secrete milk does not depend on pulling the nipples, but also requires the unblocking of the entire mammary gland tissue. The suction power of the baby's mouth is actually very small, but it can unblock the mammary glands very well. When we buy a breast pump, we should choose one with moderate suction power.