This technique can be very useful to make breastfeeding as effective as possible so that your baby gets as much milk as possible for every minute he or she is feeding, you get lots of stimulation to make more milk and the feeds are shorter and more efficient.
To do breast compressions, get your baby latched and feeding normally. When the milk flow slows and he goes back to the quick sucks, grasp your breast well away from the nipple, squeeze and hold. You should see him start to have longer sucks with swallows as he drinks the milk you are pushing out for him. Hold the squeeze until he pauses. Once he has had a quick rest, move your hand to another location on the breast and repeat. You can continue this pattern throughout the whole feeding session ” when you squeeze and baby doesn't start sucking and swallowing again, then it's time to switch breasts or end the feeding. Breast compressions are typically used after a mother’s milk has “come-in”, but can also be helpful in the first few days after birth to get more colostrum into baby.
Breast compression gets a lot more milk into baby without a lot of added effort. Not only is baby getting more calories, but the breast is being drained more effectively which signals that the body should make more milk. The skin-to-skin contact also helps stimulate milk ejections, which tend to be less effective if supply is low or flow is weak.
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