Saturday, February 23, 2013

Breast pump

Great modern helper for many mum's around the world
Not every woman is that lucky to have her lactation as expected. For mum's who doesn't have enough of the milk the breast pump is a great help that stimulates the breast properly and helps the milk production.
The market offers several breast pump types, electric or mechanic. It is a great helper that comes in handy in the times of little because it helps to stimulate and create more milk and in the times of more where it helps to put the milk into bottles to freeze the extra milk for later use.  

Breast pump types

Pump type Description Image
Mechanical pump
Mechanical pump is recommended for mothers with normal lactation but needs time to time relax their breast before breastfeeding or after.
Mechanical balloon type
Mechanical leveler pump
Electrical mini pump
Mini electrical pump is recommended for breastfeeding mothers with big lactation but has so much milk that they need to squirt it out and relax the breast.
Electrical hospital pump
Hospital electrical pump is recommended for non-breastfeeding mothers but daily squirt a full dose of milk.
One phase pump
One phase milk extraction system introduces save and careful milk extraction for mothers who’s lactation is without a problem. All one phase pumps have vacuum regulation and ensure comfortable milk extraction.
Two phase pump
Two phase milk extraction system (ES) nearly fully resembles baby sucking rhythm, first stimulation phase and second lactation phase. Two phase milk ES is very careful to the breast. It is recommended for mothers that needs to start the lactation after birth so the baby can get the mother's milk as soon as possible after birth. This pump is also suitable for mothers who can't for any reason breastfeed after birth. It was tested and proven that these mothers had their own milk after 30 hours of using the two phase pump.

When to extract, when to squirt?
  •   It is necessary to use the pump for premature baby that is not able to suck from the breast. An ideal type of pump to do this job is the big electrical hospital breast pump, that can perfectly simulate child's sucking reflex. It is possible to continue with smaller electrical home pumps after the lactation had started. The extraction should be regular. During the day in 2-3 hours intervals, in the night 2x, every breast 10-15minutes. If the baby was born very early or has some health issues the milk extraction can be a matter of many weeks or months. But it is definitely worth It because especially prematurely born babies needs mother's milk from their own mother, which consistency adapts to the needs of the baby.
  • If it is necessary to stop the breastfeeding for some urgent reasons. For example mother's or baby's health issues. It is possible to keep the milk extraction. Milk should be still extracted in the same time intervals, as the baby was fed before and should be given to the baby in an alternative way (spoon, syringe,... ).
  • Planned separation – can be for couple of hours or days or even can be regular when the mum is partially employed or study. Or if she needs go to the planned operation. It is advisable to prepare the milk for these occasions. In the time when the baby is not fed it is necessary to squirt the milk every 3-4 hours (this applies for fully fed babies, older babies that has partial solid food don't require it so often) to prevent the milk from solidification.
  • Even for babies that don't corporate during breastfeeding it is possible to keep all the breastfeeding benefits. The baby is fed from the bottle. Woman can keep the lactation for a very long time, more then a year by using electrical pump (Ideal is both breast pump). Breast milk extraction frequency and interval is controlled by the woman herself. Some women collect the milk for their baby during for extractions other needs twice the amount.
  • It is highly recommended to relax the breast with a milk excess, that can result in retention or breast inflammation. If even after the feeding there are solid places in the breast it is necessary to release the pressure from these places and squirt the milk out (by pump or hand). If the woman will squirt the milk every day less and less then the lactation will adapt to the child's needs.
  • If the milk squirts out during first weeks very strongly and the baby is choking on it, it is recommended to squirt a bit of a milk out and that will cause the milk flow to slow down. Also when the breast are to full with the milk it is hard for the baby to catch the breast. It is recommended to massage areola and squirt the milk out.
Appropriate time to extract the milk is after the breastfeeding or in the longer pauses between breastfeeding.
There are number of breast pumps on the market these days. It depends on the need and use but generally I would recommend the brands Avent, NUK and Maleda. Good luck with or without the pump and a lot of full and happy babies.

Faithfully yours Nanny B.

No comments:

Post a Comment