Lolli’s Lesson: Don’t Pack the Pump!

This is transitional milk pumped after 3 days of combined hand expression and breastfeeding. (Thank you Christina for the awesome visual!)

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t bring your pump to the hospital. You absolutely can!! But, I want to alleviate all the things that truly aren’t necessary when delivering a healthy, full-term newborn. Babies with special needs or delivering preterm—that is a completely different experience. In those special circumstances, you are going to get to know your breast pump very well. And it makes sense to be educated on the pump you will be using at home especially when a baby who can not go to breast in those early days, will need you to pump your milk for them whenever they can be fed. Also important to use your pump as your breasts will need you to!(or hand express or BOTH!) This is how to establish a full milk supply when it is not possible to put your baby to breast.

But for most normal, healthy newborns the first time I may suggest you pump? When your milk is transitioning, breasts are so full they feel like watermelons and that sweet baby who breastfed so well in the hospital? Well? Now is refusing to latch. When I am educating parents during their discharge teaching, this is a conversation I always have. Because I have learned that is the call I will receive more often than not after baby has been home for a couple of days and parents are experiencing the stress of the transitioning of early milk(when you have very little volume) to the end of day 5 when the volume begins to increase to a full supply.

I have also realized that giving too much information, such as how to work a pump just a day or two after a baby has been born, is not the best time for parents to learn. There is so much they are taking in. And the bottom line is—we want your baby at the breast as much as possible in these early days of establishing breastfeeding. Worrying about how the pump works, how and when to pump to build a supply when going back to work, I have found is just not the optimum time to educate on this.

Other reasons I may hesitate to have mothers use a pump early on? The result from pumping may not produce one single drop. Imagine what parents think? “I don’t have anything!” “I can’t do this”. “I am starving my baby”. I have heard all of these things more times than I can count. However, bring in hand expression and a spoon and look what they see! Another reason why it is one of my favorite tools. If you haven’t read about my love for hand expression and spoon feeding, check this out here.

Maverick was so sleepy at the breast because it’s hard work to be born! Here is the result of colostrum expressed on a spoon. You can see how much mom was able to produce by hand expressing. This would be difficult to capture and collect when using a pump in the first few hours and early days with your newborn.

As providers, we are mindful in our teaching of what to expect in these early days. There is a time for a breast pump, absolutely! You can bring it to the hospital if you would like, absolutely! But it is not a necessity in the birth of a normal healthy newborn. It is, however, a discussion that needs to be had as we educate parents on what to expect and when a pump may be the answer to a breastfeeding challenge. But in the meantime during those early hospital days—don’t pack that pump!!!