Bacteria can be introduced into your pump parts a variety of ways, so it is important to check everything before you pump. While you may not have thought about it, washing your hands before touching parts or buttons and dials is a vital part of breast pump cleaning. You should also inspect all connectors, flanges and tubing for mold or damage so you can immediately discard and replace anything that has been compromised. If you are using a shared pump, be sure to use disinfectant wipes on all surfaces before touching them.
After each use, perform thorough breast pump cleaning. The first step is to completely disassemble all parts that come in contact with your milk. Then rinse each part under running water to remove any milk that may have gotten on/in them. Place the rinsed parts into a basin only used for parts and not directly in the sink or with other dishes. Clean the parts by hand or in the dishwasher. Make sure to use soap and scrub with a designated pump brush if you wash by hand. After washing, handle parts with clean hands and allow them to air dry on sanitary surface.
Ensure all parts, brushes and basins are sterilized at least once each day that they are being used. Sanitizing parts is especially important “if your baby is less than three months old, was born prematurely, or has a weakened immune system due to illness (such as HIV) or medical treatment (such as chemotherapy for cancer).” All items can be sanitized using a microwave steam bag, a separate system designed for such use, by boiling or using a dishwasher with a sanitize setting.
Make sure all parts are completely dry before storing. If desired (using clean hands) assemble dry parts and place them inside a clean, protected area such as a cabinet. You can also use a seal-able bag or container. It is very important that all parts be completely dry before storage as moisture increases the likelihood of bacteria and mold growth.
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Does it seem like your baby is constantly breastfeeding? You’re not alone! Many mothers experience this and it doesn’t necessarily indicate that your baby isn’t getting enough milk. In fact, the majority of mothers who believe they have a low milk supply are incorrectly interpreting certain normal baby behaviors. This is known as “perceived insufficient milk” or “perceived low milk supply,” and it accounts for the number one reason why women wean early. After generations of supplemental feeding, our culture has lost our communal wisdom about how breastfed babies behave.
The reality of frequent feedings or "cluster feeding" in some infants is that breastfeeding is about much more than providing nutrition. There are many reasons your baby wants to be close to you and breastfeed. Understanding these reasons can help you and baby feel more at ease, more relaxed, and get more joy from your breastfeeding journey together.
Why Your Baby Wants to Feed Frequently
If you feel you are producing enough breast milk and your baby is getting a good latch, but still nurses frequently, there are a number of other physical and emotional factors that may be involved. It could be that your baby:
Most of the time frequent breastfeeding just means that your normal, healthy baby is doing what he or she needs to feel happy and content. However, if you have other reasons to believe that you don’t have enough milk to meet your baby’s needs, our hands free pumping bras products are designed to support breast milk supply in breastfeeding mothers by allowing and educating moms on the benefits of massage + pumping.
Supporting Breastfeeding Moms From the Start
LactaMed's flagship product, the Simplicity™ Hands Free Pumping Bra Kit and other nursing and pumping bras, like our EverBeautyBra™ ALL IN ONE | All Day Bra - Prenatal Bra - Nursing Bra - Hands Free Pumping Bra work to support moms and babies, and can be especially helpful when babies want to feed frequently or when there is a need to pump. Whatever your nursing or pumping frequency may be, you can rely on high-quality LactaMed products to help you get the job done.
]]>Would you like an effective method for pumping more milk? Until 2009, most of us assumed that when a mother used a breast pump, the pump should do all of the milk-removal work. But this changed when Jane Morton and her colleagues published a ground-breaking study in the Journal of Perinatology.The mothers in this study were pumping exclusively for premature babies in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
For premature babies, mother’s milk is like a medicine. Any infant formula these babies receive increases their risk of serious illness, so these mothers were under a lot of pressure to pump enough milk to meet their babies’ needs.
Amazingly, when these mothers used their hands as well as their pump to express milk, they pumped an average of 48 percent more milk than the pump alone could remove. According to another study, this milk also contained twice as much fat as when mothers used only the pump. According to previous research, in most mothers exclusively pumping for premature babies, milk production falters after three to four weeks. But the mothers using this “hands-on” technique continued to increase their milk production throughout their babies’ entire first eight weeks, the entire length of the study.
Hands-on pumping is not just for mothers with babies in special care. Any mother who pumps can benefit from it. How does it work? For a demonstration of this technique, watch the online video “How to Use Your Hands When You Pump” HERE. As a summary, follow these steps:
1. Massage both breasts.
2. Double pump, compressing your breasts as much as you can while pumping. (Search "hands free pumping" online for devices that fit any brand of pump and allow you to double pump with both hands free.) Continue until milk flow slows to a trickle.
3. Massage your breasts again, concentrating on areas that feel full.
4. Finish by either hand expressing your milk into the pump's nipple tunnel or single pumping, whichever yields the most milk. Either way, during this step, do intensive breast compression on each breast, moving back and forth from breast to breast several times until you've drained both breasts as fully as possible.
This entire routine took the mothers in the study an average of about 25 minutes.
These two online videos demonstrate two different hand-expression techniques that can be used as part of hands-on pumping HERE and http://ammehjelpen.no/handmelking?id=907 (scroll down for the English version).
Hands-on pumping can be used by any mother who wants to improve her pumping milk yield or boost her milk production. Drained breasts make milk faster, and hands-on pumping helps drains your breasts more fully with each pumping.
References
1Morton, J., Hall, J. Y., Wong, R. J., Thairu, L., Benitz, W. E., & Rhine, W. D. (2009). Combining hand techniques with electric pumping increases milk production in mothers of preterm infants. Journal of Perinatology, 29(11), 757-764.
2Morton, J., Wong, R. J., Hall, J. Y., Pang, W.W., Lai, C.T., Lui, J., Hartmann, P.E., & Rhine, W. D. (2012). Combining hand techniques with electric pumping increases the caloric content of milk in mothers of preterm infants. Journal of Perinatology, Jan 5. doi: 10.1038/jp.2011.195. [Epub ahead of print]
3 Hill, P. D., Aldag, J. C., Chatterton, R. T., & Zinaman, M. (2005). Primary and secondary mediators' influence on milk output in lactating mothers of preterm and term infants. J Hum Lact, 21(2), 138-150.
Shop LactaMed's Innovative Line of Breastfeeding and Pumping Bra's
]]>Having a child has given me discipline that I never even knew that I had. I know that everyone has their own journey and vices that keep them from breastfeeding or pumping. I am truly a believer in the powers of the “liquid gold” my “liquid gold.” I have to let you guys in on a little secret…. I have no clue what I will do with myself when I am not attached to my milking machine! I have started cutting the cord and weaning down little by little. Just as I was about to begin my move from pumping I was blessed with an awesome maternity bra. I would encourage everyone to order one from LactaMed™. It made me feel like I had boobs again. Comfy, lots of support, and it also allowed me to be hands free while I pumped. They have a few options to check out but my favorite is the “Working Mom’s Day Bra.” It was like the Mercedes bra to my “Mercy Dees (these) bras are killing me and my mommy swag.
My first step to kicking my pumping habit was turning in my hospital grade pump that I rented. Let me tell you, it is an investment that I strongly encourage if you can afford it, to have it on deck with you at home. I kind of wanted to shed a tear knowing that this was the first step to end the milk (I think it helped that I got a deposit back).
The next step to my drawdown, leave the pump at home. For the past few weeks have detached from the pump. I can actually come to work and not look like I am preparing for a week stay at my desk. I like my job, but not that much to camp out. But there is a downside to my newfound freedoms. I have moments of panic when I look into my milk freezer and I can see the bottom to what was once jam packed with the good stuff. Will I make it to the magic number of 365??? How will my little man tolerate his next step? Goodness so many changes next daycare, whole milk, walking, talking, and the newfound independence of this once tiny little miracle.
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]]>Kissimmee, Florida (PRWEB) February 17, 2015 — A recent survey by LactaMed in January 2015 was returned by 100 new mothers and had a surprising result. “Over 80% of mothers who used the Simplicity™ Hands Free Pumping Bra Kit plus Massage reported faster pumping times,” says Melinda Berry, VP of LactaMed Inc. Simplicity™Hands Free Pumping Bra Kit empowers the mother and enables massaging while breast pumping. The combined result significantly reduces pumping times. Most breast pumping sessions with double pumping are 20 minutes long so saving 5-6 minutes is very significant for most new mothers.
The LactaMed survey was returned by 100 new mothers and showed a significant amount of reduced breast pumping time by using massage plus pumping. While not every mom was successful with faster speeds and more milk output, the trend was clear: faster breast pumping using Simplicity™while pumping & massaging.
Jennifer, for example, was worried about returning to work and continuing breastfeeding because of her short break times. Jennifer purchased a Simplicity™ Hands Free Pumping Bra so she could not only pump hands free but also to use “Hands on Pumping*” technique to help breast pump faster. Jennifer pumped faster with Simplicity™and had more breast milk expressed.
Over 80% of mothers reported faster breast pumping times (5-6 minutes average). These moms used massage plus the Simplicity Bra Kit while pumping. The average amount of reduction in time had a low side of 5 minutes and 6.13 minutes on the high side of mothers who reported results. Some mothers did not quantify results but stated “faster breast pumping times” expressed in written form. Other comments from mothers included ” 20% more”, “a few minutes faster”, “2 times faster”, “cut time in half”,” about the same amount of milk but faster”, and “1.5X as much”.
There has been an intense interest from companies that have a Corporate Lactation Programs. The inexpensive Simplicity™Hands Free Pumping Bra can cut pumping time by 20-25% or more for most moms and enables much higher worker productivity. Less time breast pumping means more time for the workers at break time or a faster return to work. Corporate Lactation Programs have found that Simplicity™is a low cost boost to productivity and mothers love pumping in less time.
Some mothers that did not massage while breast pumping reported oversupply of breast milk and did not want or need more breast milk output or faster times. It should be noted that some moms did not see any decreased pumping time so there is variation in the results. The 100 mother survey was recently completed in January
2015.
]]>About LactaMed: LactaMed, Inc. is the manufacture of the Simplicity™ Hands-Free Pumping Bra Kit. The Simplicity™ is the first affordable, one size fits all, simple, compact hands-free pumping bra kit that allows moms to pump hands-free but also enable the Massage Plus Pumping technique.
Two studies confirm massage increases fat percentage in pumped milk.
One recent and one fairly older study both point to a simple and cost free way to increase the percentage of fat in expressed or pumped human milk. One study done by Dr. Morton states:
We Propose a simple, no cost, risk free intervention, combining electric pumping with two manual techniques has a beneficial influence on milk production as well as composition by removing fat-rich hind milk more effectively than pump suction alone” (Dr. Jane Morton et. al. J Perinatology 2012 32 791-96)
“Breast Compression may increase intramammary and intraductile pressure thereby improving the removal of more viscous, fat rich milk” (Dr. Jane Morton et. al. J Perinatology 2012 32 791-96)
“…the pressure is the important factor in the production of a high percentage of fat. The greater the pressure apparently the steeper will be the rise in Fat percentage. Suction employed alone, on the other hand, tends to lower the percentage of fat” (Widdows Biochem J. 1933;27(5):1400-10)
Many mothers are not aware that simple massage can not only help remove more fat-rich hind milk but it will also enable them to express more milk as breast pumps alone do not completely empty the breast.
Combing manual expression, massage and pumping is beneficial both to the composition of breastmilk as well as the volume of milk expressed.
Widdow Study Click here for study
Morton Study Click here for abstract
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A study done by Dr. Jane Morton at Stanford University showed that mothers that used a Hands on Pumping technique along with hand expression increased milk Mean Daily Volumes (MDV) by 48%. This study shows that even very high quality pumps by themselves do not maximize a mothers milk production. A breastpump leaves a residual volume that only external compression seems to remove. Hand expression will stimulate the nipple/breast and massage will help to empty the breast more completely. This also removes the rich hind milk fr the baby. Simplicity is a product that facilitates this process by holding the breast pump horns so a mothers hands are free. You can read the full article here.
]]>The first thing that comes to mind about lactation for me was TERRIFIED! How do they expect new mothers with the crazy hormones and the new baby to get this thing licked in less than 48 hours? I was assured by Rachel, my awesome Lactation Consultant (LC) that I would be fine, and she would be there to help along the way. Her reassurance helped a wee bit as I continued my research about what awesome things my body and boobies were made to do. Two days later, our lives literally flipped upside down as I was admitted into labor and delivery with preeclampsia and told that under no certainty would I carry to term. The end goal to this game was 34 weeks, IF we could ride it out that long. As the days passed by we met with countless specialists and prepared for the babies pending arrival.
As predicted I did not get to that magic number of 34 weeks. I was forced to have an emergency C-Section at 32 weeks due to preeclampsia. During this process I went into the HELLP Syndrome, something that was completely unknown to me before this adventure.
The acronym for HELLP Syndrome stands for:
This diagnosis sent my world into a tailspin and bought me a trip from labor and delivery straight to ICU. I did not have that warm and fuzzy moment of holding my newest gift or even seeing him for that matter. All of my education on skin-to-skin seemed to be for not and the idea of nursing should have been an afterthought as well. Motherhood ignited a fire inside of me like I have never known before. Quitting was not an option, and I knew that only I could give my son the fighting chance that he needed with my “liquid gold.” I will never judge a mother who decides that nursing is not for her, as it may not be for everyone. For me knowing the value of my milk for my son motivated me to start pumping in the ICU.
I could barely sit myself up but with the help of Mary (another LC) she made sure that I was able to get that first milk. She encouraged me and as Rachel promised, she never left my side. These “Milk Whisperers” were instrumental in me being successful to provide for my child. I became dedicated and disciplined to the schedule of pumping; I needed my body to produce this milk. I needed to feel my purpose of being a mother because I had not yet seen or held my sweet boy. Pumping was not only helping my baby but it was helping me.
The first 60 days of my sons life was spent in an isolate in the Neonatal ICU (NICU), we lived safely within this bubble. We were taught all the do’s and don’ts of parenting and handling a micro preemie. My husband and I felt as prepared as we could be. We had prepared our home and I had a wonderful stockpile of milk that I had been diligently curating for my son. All was well until….We spent one night at the hospital with our son, we returned home to find the “milk” freezer had defrosted. I know we all have heard the phrase “don’t cry over spilled milk,” whoever coined that phrase apparently has never be a lactating mom. I cry over a drop if it happens to spill much less an entire deep freezer of milk! My heart was broken and I couldn’t imagine what I would do when this little person caught up to the volume I was pumping. Thank God I had another stockpile at the NICU that helped soften the blow of all the milk we lost.
I am so blessed to say that God has always provided me with a great supply. I have continued my journey as “Elsa” the milking mom for almost 9 months now. I have even been able to share my journey with others in hopes that I can bring a little calm to the impending storm of motherhood. With a little dedication and a lot or prayer mommies can overcome anything.
Acknowledgment: Christus St Frances Cabrini Hospital, Labor & Delivery
]]>From all of us here at LactaMed, thank you Nickie for sharing your journey with us!
Interested in blogging for LactaMed? Send our Social Media Coordinator an email.
The normal action of a baby feeding upon a breast can be analysed into two factors: pressure and suction; and it would appear from a study of the preceding tables that the pressure is the important factor in the production of a high percentage of fat. The greater the pressure apparently the steeper will be the rise in the fat percentage. Suction employed alone, on the other hand, tends to lower the percentage of fat. The larger, therefore, the element of suction in the act of extraction, the smaller apparently will be the ultimate rise in the fat percentage.
Download the entire study here. Widdows The influence of Method of extration of Breastmilk on the fat percentage 1933
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L A Parker, S Sullivan, C Krueger, T Kelechi and M Mueller
Objective:
The purpose of this randomized pilot study was to collect preliminary data regarding the feasibility and effects of early initiation of milk expression on the onset of lactogenesis stage II and milk volume in mothers of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.
Study Design:
Twenty women were randomized to initiate milk expression within 60 min (group 1) or 1 to 6 h (group 2) following delivery. Milk volume and timing of lactogenesis stage II was compared between groups using Wilcoxon’s rank sum tests.
Result:
Group 1 produced statistically significantly more milk than group 2 during the first 7 days (P=0.05) and at week 3 (P=0.01). Group 1 also demonstrated a significantly earlier lactogenesis stage II (P=0.03).
Conclusion:
Initiation of milk expression within 1 h following delivery increases milk volume and decreases time to lactogenesis stage II in mothers of VLBW infants.
Source: Journal of Perinatology 32, 205-209 (March 2012)
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