Myths & Facts

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Myths and facts associated with expressing

Mothers are given lots of contradictory advice on expressing so it can be hard to know which advice is correct. These are some of the most common misconceptions and the thinking that lies behind the different views.

1. You must not express for the first six weeks.

The reasoning behind this advice seems to be that expressing before the milk supply is fully established will affect the delicate balance of supply and demand and may stimulate the breasts to over-produce. I agree that this could happen, but only if the mother is expressing excessively and is taking far more milk out of her breasts than her baby is actually drinking. Expressing should not cause a problem if the mother is doing it in order to give the milk to her baby in a bottle - e.g. because he can’t latch on, she has sore nipples or she simply wants someone else to give a feed occasionally.

2. You must not express if your breasts are engorged.

Many mothers suffer from extreme engorgement when their milk first comes in around Day 4, but are often advised that on no account should they express as this will make the engorgement even worse. This is bad advice. When a mother is in agony from primary engorgement and her baby is unable to empty her breasts, it is important that she does fully empty both breasts with a breast pump. If she does not do this, she is likely to develop mastitis.

3. Long-term expressing will reduce your milk supply.

I disagree. Many mothers who cannot breast-feed their baby (because he is unable to suck on the breast for whatever reason) are able to express for months on end and have no problem with maintaining their supply. But it is equally true that others find that their milk supply does dwindle and they have to supplement with some formula milk. But the same applies to mothers who are breastfeeding – some have plenty of milk and others don’t. It does not make sense to blame long-term expressing for a failing milk supply!

4. A baby will always get more milk out of a breast than a pump.

Not true! Most good breast pumps are very effective at emptying a breast and will often do a far better job than a sleepy baby. I regularly express milk at the end of a feed when the baby won’t suck any more on the breast but is still hungry and unsettled - the baby will then take this milk from a bottle.

5. If you can’t express any milk, your breasts must be empty.

This is generally correct. A pump normally gives a pretty good indication of your milk supply: the more milk you can express, the more you have; the less milk you express, the less you have. But if you are one of the very few mothers can never express any milk (even before a feed when you know your breasts are full), using a pump to see how much milk is in your breasts is clearly not an option.

Don’t forget that there are lots of available resources for breastfeeding information including National Childbirth Trust and the Department of Health.