Breastfeeding is an expression of the strong bond between a mother and her baby. There are numerous benefits of breastfeeding for the Mother as well as for her baby but sometimes Mother is not able to breastfeed directly under some circumstances. But she wants to continue this beautiful bonding and journey of breastfeeding. So Breast pumps are of great help for these Mothers and babies.
It depends upon different situations when to introduce pumping. If a healthy Mother and baby are there and Mother wants to pump, the ideal recommendation is Mother should wait at least 6 weeks to start the pumping process. During these 6 weeks, most babies are able to learn the right technique of latching and suckling. After this duration, if Mother feels like she can start pumping once or two times a day depends upon the requirement and some other member of the family can feed this expressed milk to the baby with a spoon or feeding cup. Bottles are not recommended.
Sometimes a baby decides to come early to this world and this baby is premature with low birth weight and the baby is kept in neonatal intensive care for a few weeks. Because of poor cheek stability, these babies are not able to latch on and suckle well on the breast. Pumping is the best solution for these babies till the time they start direct breastfeeding and satiate them well. Usually, Manual expression can be introduced from day one of delivery and Pumping can be introduced from day two to three depending upon Mother to Mother.
Production of breastmilk works on the demand and supply principle if the baby is not around and Mother is not able to give enough stimulation to the breast via the use of a breast pump then there are chances of a dip in supply within 72 hours. So it’s very important for mothers to use breast pumps every 3 hourly for good production of breastmilk.
A Mother wants to join back work after 4-6 months of delivery and this Mother wants to continue the journey of breastfeeding. It would be advisable to start pumping 6 weeks before joining work and start storing expressed breast milk in the freezer to avoid stress later.
Few other conditions where a Mother might need to start pumping is when the baby is not able to latch on effectively because of an inverted nipple, too big a nipple and painful breastfeeding (there are many reasons for this)etc. Sometimes although it’s rare that Mother doesn’t want to breastfeed her baby directly, she just wants to use a breast pump and feed her expressed milk to the baby. Being a Lactation consultant I feel we should support and promote Mother whatever way she chooses to breastfeed either direct or indirect. A Mother knows best for her baby and we should not be made to feel her guilt if she chooses to breastfeed via the use of a breast pump and we should respect her decision and support her as much as we can.
– Dr.Deepika M Pahwa (PT)
Lactation consultant (IBCLC)
