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07/09/2006: "Making Any Breast Pump Work for You"

For a new mom who might find herself struggling with a pricey new breast pump, she may be wondering if she bought the right one. There is a huge variety of breast pumps out there, so this is a reasonable question for her to be asking. But really, with enough determination, self-confidence, and above all KNOWLEDGE, she can make any breast pump work, even the one she owns ;-)

How can we be so sure of this? Because the truth is, breast milk can be expressed without even using a breast pump. The trick is inducing your body's "Milk Ejection Reflex" (sometimes referred to "Let Down"). Inducing this reflex is the majority of the work, and once you've managed that, any breast pump will do, although a double-breast pump will make it much easier to catch the flow from both breasts at once, which may well happen.

To aid your body's Milk Ejection Reflex, there are some very nice developments in breast pumps in the last 5-10 years. Breast pump flanges have been introduced that massage your breasts, and there are electric breast pumps that advertise that they mimic the varying suckling rhythms of your baby. But if you have a breast pump with even a plain hard plastic flange, or a non-motorized pump, you can learn the massage and rhythm techniques yourself before you even pick up a breast pump.

Just go to (your favorite search engine), and enter "Marmet Technique Milk Ejection Reflex". You will find a wealth of articles! Women who use this technique without a pump express into a cup, or perhaps into a funnel on a baby bottle. Some even stand up and lean over to do this (ouch!). This can risk spilling too, and as any pumping or expressing mother can tell you, every drop of white gold breast milk is precious. Still, using this technique to induce your body's Milk Ejection Reflex just prior to using your breast pump, (which is less likely to spill) should make using your breast pump much easier.

I sincerely hope this information helps you in your breast pumping success.

All the Breast,

Suzanne. (aka to some folks, Mom.)