Hand Compressions

Hand compressions during pumping can lead to getting more milk out in one session 😀 Compressing the breast and stimulating different areas can encourage more milk to flow thanks to the make up and placement of milk ducts - they’re located all over your breast, not just in one concentrated area 🌲 Understanding milk ducts and how they work in conjunction with your breast is important. 🙌🏼 “One way to visualize the structures of the breast is to picture a tree. The alveoli are the leaves and the ducts are the branches. Many smaller branches merge into a few bigger branches that finally become the trunk of the tree. Similarly, the breast is made up of units called lobes, each one composed of a single major duct with multiple smaller ducts and alveoli leading into it. Most authorities believe that women have approximately 15 to 20 lobes per breast, although one current study suggests that the number may be closer to seven to 10 per breast” (La Leche Leche International) 💫

By compressing your breast as seen in the video above, you can stimulate different “branches” encouraging more milk to flow. 🎉 You may even notice Baby “kneading” the breast with their tiny hand sometimes - by instinctually doing that, they’re encouraging and helping to stimulate milk flow! So freakin’ cool 😎