Expressing breast milk

Hi everyone, I’m a first-time mum and would really appreciate some advice. I gave birth to our beautiful baby boy a week ago via emergency C-section under general anaesthesia due to unforeseen circumstances. As a result, I missed the early days to properly establish breastfeeding. To make sure he’s getting enough milk, he’s been mostly on formula with some expressed colostrum and milk from me whilst under special care for first few days of his life until we were discharged by end of day 5. Now, 7 days postpartum, my milk supply is quite low. I’m producing about 15–20ml per breast when using a Haakaa and hand expressing until I feel empty, and I’ve been topping him up with formula due to the low supply. What’s been worrying me is not having a clear idea of how much he’s actually feeding with mixed feeding—I don’t know if I’m underfeeding or overfeeding him. The amount of formula top-up he takes also seems to vary quite a bit at each feed. I’m considering getting an Elvie hands-free pump to express more often and hopefully boost my supply. However, I’ve come across mixed advice, with some saying it’s best to wait until 6 weeks before introducing pumping. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would you recommend getting the Elvie pump this early, or should I hold off? Any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Show your support

Hey, just for reassurance baby on the breast will help your milk. I had the same worries in regard to over feeding my baby on breast milk but they cannot be overfed apparently only underfed according to my HV. i suppose I don’t know about formula though as my baby is only breast fed directly or takes expressed from a bottle. I hand expressed and pumped while pregnant collecting colostrum And pumped straight after, i would collect 7oz in total sometimes 4.5oz confused on to why to wait 6 weeks. I pump every 2hrs for 10mins max 20 on each. There is also something called power pumping where you pump for 20 mins and rest for 10 then do 10 more minutes and thats supposed to help boost your supply too Hope this helps and congratulations 🌸

Thank u for reassurance. I don’t understand as well as many online guidance states 6 weeks onwards reason being waiting for “supply to be established”. I am gonna look into getting a pump asap. Will try feed him on breast still to try and build up until it arrives. 😭

Hi, they recommend waiting until 6 weeks as pumping can cause an over supply and giving bottles before breastfeeding is established can cause nipple confusion. I started pumping early as I had no clue and have ended up exclusively pumping 4 months later as baby now refuses breast. So it depends on what your goals are. With regards to feeding amount, I was recommended to always offer breast first, then if still hungry to give formula, just make sure you pace feed. I hope it all goes well for you, it was a hard time for me and I wish I’d reached out for more support, so I would recommend asking for support, there are plenty of breastfeeding groups on Facebook and your health visitor or midwife may also be able to help 😊

Put baby on the boob as much as possible, lots of skin to skin, and offer both breasts at each feed. This will help signal to your body how much milk to make

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌