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Regularly expressing your breast milk is a way to give your baby milk, possibly through a feeding tube, and to make sure you have a supply of milk for when they can breastfeed. 

Early, frequent and regular expressing is the key to good milk volumes (and supply) when you are unable to breastfeed. 

Expressing should occur every 3 â€�4 hours or 6-8 times in 24 hours. 

Your milk can be collected in a syringe, mil bag or bottle, refrigerated and brought into the unit in an esky with ice packs.

Expressing be done by hand or using an electric pump. 

We will give you an expressing kit that connects to the electric breast pump. The pump mimics the natural sucking behaviour of your baby at the breast, stimulating the flow of milk. 

Using a breast pump once your milk has “come in� will help establish and maintain your milk supply.

The following activities can help:

• enjoy skin to skin cuddles with your baby as soon as possible and as often as possible. Alternately hand hugs and scent pads can also help.
• eat well and stay hydrated
• rest regularly
• consider loaning or hiring a breast pump for use at home

Once you have expressed and labelled your breast milk (our staff will show you how to do this), we recommend storing it in syringes, milk bags, or bottles.

If you plan to freeze the milk, it’s best to use milk bags.

Please ensure the milk is labelled with your baby’s name. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Instructions on milk storage is outlined in the table below with additional information on storage at home provided in our discharge resource.

We will provide you with expressing equipment, guide you with use of our electric breast pumps and show you where to store your milk in either the fridge or freezer.

Sometimes, mothers need, or may want to, suppress their milk supply.  We can support you in this process.

Read the Information sheet