Info: Management of Breastmilk

There are several reasons why breastfeeding mothers need to express their milk:

1. They are working moms who are away from their babies during the day

2. The babies sleep soundly through the night (like mine) so the breasts get full in the night

3. The babies can’t latch on properly (tongue-tied, inverted nipples etc) so they get breastmilk in the bottle

4. To increase or maintain breastmilk production rate – ideally we should empty both breasts after each feeding

5. To relieve breast engorgement

We can express breastmilk by hand (the marmet method), using manual or battery/electricity operated breastpump. I never got the gist of hand-expressing, so I chose to use a breastpump instead. During the first few months when the production rate was still low I used a manual breastpump, then during the peak period of breastmilk production I used an electric breastpump which gave more milk at a faster time. Working moms often chose double pump that can express both breasts at one go, very useful if you have limited time to express at the office. There are also pumps with massage feature to induce the let-down reflex. Nowadays there are myriad of options regarding breastpump types and brands, you’ll need to do a thorough research before deciding to purchase one. Or you can just receive one as a gift and stick with it, like I did.

Info: Breastfeeding

Right from the very beginning of my prgnancy, hubby and I had decided to breastfeed exclusively. We requested in our Birth Plan that no formula or sugar water should be given at the nursery room unless for emergency medical purposes. We also requested that early breastfeeding initiation should take place right after the delivery. We were planning for waterbirth but ended up with a Caesarean section instead – hubby steadfastly stuck to the agreement and followed the nurses to make sure no formula was given to the baby. He even took it up a notch and brought the baby to be breastfed off me at the surgery room even before I regained my consciousness – the ob-gyn was still stitching up my lower abdomen.

At the first attempt, no milk came out for about 15 minutes, and Jojo cried angrily. After a short break we tried again at the recovery room, I wasn’t fully conscious yet so one midwive and one nurse held the baby while Tom hovered near me. This time the colostrum came out and Jojo had his fill for some time. And I’ve been breastfeeding ever since. To this day, baby Jojo has never known formula.