question about breastfeeding and pumping?

Question

hi ladies..I was curious to know if myself or any other woman can start breast pumping very shortly before u give birth and will it make your milk supply bigger? I would like to breastfeed this time but i wanna make sure pumping will make enough milk for my baby? and will the hospital allow me to pump instead of breast (i want baby to have breastmilk just dont wanna have baby latch on) long story with last baby). thanks for all advice given

Answer 1

I was using a nipple shield and as that may reduce supply I was pumping as well. Until I became engorged *lol*. Yes breastmilk is supply and demand.

The hospital can not "allow" or "prevent" you from doing anything -unless it is actually abuse and then they can only call in the authorities.

However if you are planning on exclusively pumping you should know that even the best pump only gets out 90ish percent of the milk. This means that you may struggle with your supply -much more so than a women who feeds from the breast at least part time.

I don't know what is right for you but I can tell you there are many benefits to the baby feeding from the breast. Bottles are a risk for ear infections even if they contain breastmilk. feeding directly at the breast also improves jaw tone and helps with proper jaw development which is good for speech. When breastfeeding the baby passes germs to the mom so that the mom creates antibodies right away so the immune properties of breastmilk are more effective. Skin-to-skin contact allows infants to bond (of course this can happen without breastfeeding -but in all reality it just won't happen in the same amount).

Whatever went wrong the first time more than likely will not go wrong this time. Don't sell yourself short, why not commit to breastfeeding at least the first 6 weeks and then if it doesn't work out pump -full or part-time. Breastfeeding exclusively the first 6 weeks -with a proper latch is the best way to ensure you will have enough milk for however long you choose to use it.

Answer 2

My first was a preemie and I had to pump for weeks. Pumping right after giving birth was very very painful. My second was not a preemie and latched right away. This was far less painful. I started pumping at the 4 week mark, and didnt bother me much. You may want to at least wait until you are not engorged to start pumping. Also for me the difference with baby 1 and baby 2 latching was incredible. Number one was a lot of screaming and took 2 nurses. Baby 2 was totally natural and easy going - then again, I was alot more easy going.