Children's Panadol®: Expressing Breast Milk

Why Express?

If you have to leave baby in someone else's care, and/or miss one or more breastfeeds, you'll need to know how to express, store and thaw breast milk.
Expressing may also be necessary for other reasons, such as to relieve engorged breasts or to build up your milk supply.

Pumps range in price from an inexpensive plastic cylindrical hand pump to larger electrical models, which you can hire. A popular choice is a small battery-operated pump from the chemist, which you can use with one hand. Remember to sterilize all equipment first.

Place a towel under breast and hold a sterilized plastic container in one hand to catch the milk.
Grasp the outer edge of the nipple with thumb and forefinger, and gently squeeze breast inwards.
Repeat in a rhythmical pumping action. Move fingers around nipple to make sure all ducts are emptied.Continue until flow stops or slows.
Depending on when you need to express, you may choose to empty one breast, or go back and forth between breasts until you have collected sufficient milk.
Follow the correct procedures for storing and thawing breast milk.

Try a warm shower or place warm wet towels on breasts (to help the flow), then gently massage down towards the nipple.
Lean forward - gravity will also help the flow.
Think of baby, or focus on his photo, to encourage let-down.
Breasts are fuller in the early morning, so this is a good time to express, after the feed.
Only express before a feed if the breasts are very full, or baby has trouble attaching.
Have an extra drink yourself at every feed time.

Fresh breast milk keeps for 3-5 days in the centre-back of fridge. If freezing, freeze within 2 days.
Freeze in pre-sterilised plastic milk bags, in a sterilised plastic bottle with lid, or a sterilised ice cube tray placed in a freezer bag.
Don't fill bottle more than ¾ full before freezing.
Label container with amount and date (use oldest milk first.)
To add to frozen milk, cool the fresh milk in the refrigerator first - otherwise it will thaw the top layer of frozen milk.
Frozen milk keeps 2 weeks in the freezer compartment of the fridge, 3 months in the freezer of a two door fridge, and 6-12 months in the deep freeze.

Thaw slowly in refrigerator. Milk will last for 24 hours.
Thaw quickly by holding bag or bottle under warm running water. Milk will last only 4 hours if thawed this way.

Do not microwave breast milk, as this may change the composition of the breast milk.
Do not refreeze milk once it has been thawed.

Think ahead and express a little surplus milk after each feed for a few days, to build up a supply. After 24 hours, freeze what you have collected.