Born to Hand Jive (and Hand Express)

How many of you know the Hand Jive by heart? Did you perform it in Grease in high school, or jive in your living room with your friends? Maybe that’s just those of us who grew up in musical theater, but you were Born to Hand Jive, Baby! And now, as a breastfeeding parent, you were Born to Hand Express!

Hand expression has many benefits throughout your breastfeeding journey, and especially in the early days. It’s worth the practice!

• Prenatally - You can begin to learn hand expression when you are pregnant. While it is not necessary to express colostrum prenatally, it is a good way to practice hand expression and see that beautiful liquid gold. If you get good at it and end up storing a small amount of colostrum, bring it to the birth with you. You can feed it to your baby for an extra boost of antibodies, or if your baby has low blood sugar issues. If you want to try it, you can generally start hand expressing at 37 weeks.
• Shortly After Birth - Expressing milk within the first hour increases milk production in subsequent weeks. If you are separated from your baby, or your baby is not latching, use hand expression to stimulate milk production. If you are able to express colostrum, you can feed it to your baby using a spoon. Even if your baby does latch, it’s still a good idea to practice hand expression in those early hours and days, both to build milk supply and for practice when you do need the skill later on.
• Engorgement - Some feelings of fullness and engorgement are normal as your milk comes in 3-5 days after birth. The best way to prevent, and relieve, engorgement is to nurse early and often. If your breasts are hard and it is too difficult for your baby to latch, hand express to relieve some of the pressure. It will get your milk flowing and express just enough milk that your baby can attach to the breast.
• Building Supply - Milk supply is all about Supply and Demand. Frequent and effective milk removal is key to building your baby’s needed supply. If you are pumping to build supply, hand express for several minutes following your pumping session. The skin-to-skin physical contact of hand expression triggers milk production, and you can get more milk out of your breasts even after pumping. Some people get so good at hand expression, they are able to express milk more quickly, and with better results, than a pump.
• On the Go - We all know what happens to The Best Laid Plans...Sometimes we plan to be away for just a short time and don’t have our pump with us, but life gets in the way and we are delayed. Sometimes the battery dies, or you forgot your power cord for your pump. Knowing how to hand express, and your body knowing how to respond, can allow you to express milk for your baby. You can hand express into a bowl, bottle, or anything in which you are able to catch the milk.
• Emergencies - Since we are now in hurricane and wildfire season, it’s a good time to discuss emergencies and disaster areas. Life during natural disasters and other emergencies is difficult and unpredictable, possibly without electricity or water. While it’s a good idea to plan for battery backups if your pump has that feature, hand expression can quite literally be a life saver if you need to express milk for your baby. Knowing how to hand express right from the start will help you be prepared if you are ever in an emergency situation.

Videos - There is more than one method of hand expression. I recommend trying different methods to find what works best for you. I am including several links to videos so that you can watch instructional videos and see it in action.

• Hand Expression of Breastmilk, from Stanford Medicine - http://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html
• Hand Expression, from Ammehjelpen (a Norwegian mother-to-mother support group) - Scroll down to the second video, in English https://ammehjelpen.no/handmelking?id=907&fref=gc&dti=255724437797434
• The Basics of Breast Massage and Hand Expression, from Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio - http://bfmedneo.com/our-services/breast-massage/

Babies are the best removers of milk from the breast, but once you’ve gotten good at it, hand expression is not far behind. After your baby is born, take a few minutes each day to practice and you may be surprised at how quickly your body responds.

You have hands - use them!

Do you use hand expression? How is it useful in your breastfeeding journey?