Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Mother's Guide to Breast Pump

If you want to have ample supply of milk, then extract milk as often as needed. The more breast milk your baby consumes, the more your body will need to make. This is often the result of the body adjusting to meet the current need. Much like the immune system produced antibodies to combat infection.

Breast pumps are then utilized to able to keep the milk from flowing. It is recommended to make a habit of 2 hours interval pumping so that the ducts won’t close enough to constrict it for later pumping.

Breast pumps fall into 2 categories, manual and electric. Although on some brands,  a hybrid can exist.

Hand pumps are also called manual because it is exactly that. You have to go down the manual road. This is not that bad though, especially if you will only be pumping occasionally. That’s why manual pumping is often called labor of love. You are able to also get pumps that will use the leg and foot muscle groups for pumping each breast at a single time. One concern for mothers who scrimped and go with a manual pump is likely to have a carpal tunnel syndrome that affects the wrists.


As an alternative, some breast pump can have battery operated mode that can be used on travels or aboard on a car. The motor that this kind of pumps used can be powered by batteries that are rechargeable, freeing you of any worries about having cramps. Since the motor uses heavy wattage for its operation, most battery operated breast pump are for single breast pump.

Electric breast pump can be more convenient and effective but tend to be a lot more expensive. But if intend to do heavy pumping action for longer periods of time, then you can have the option of renting a hospital-grade breast pump. Electric pumps can be plugged in the outlet directly or used in conjunction with batteries. Hospital grade pumps are the most efficient for initiating and maintaining milk supply, and are available for rent or buy.