If you've ever been blessed with extra breast milk and wondered what to do with it, consider doing a milk donation.  There are lots of critically ill babies and premature babies that studies have shown breast milk can provide  immense nutritional benefits for.   If you're interested in donating milk or you know someone with a baby in need of breast milk, I recommend you look into www.milkbanking.net that have a very informative website regarding the process and can help you connect to a local bank or organization to make your milk donation.

Other recent studies have shown cancer patients have been able to significantly up their immune systems while receiving chemotherapy treatment, but consuming breast milk.  While most milk banks are set up for milk donations for babies, some may be able to help you connect with the right people to donate to cancer patients.  Others I have heard, contact Oncology department directly and have had some success that way as well.

Happy Holidays & Happy Pumping!

Power Pumping is a trick exclusive pumpers use to increase their breast milk supply.  The process mimics what is called cluster feeding if you were breast feeding.  A Power Pumping session will signal to your body that it needs to make more milk. So how do I do it?

1. Start pumping like you normally would for a pumping session (same settings).
2. Pump for about 15 minutes.
3. Turn your pump off and take a break for 5 minutes.
4. Turn your pump on and pump for 10 minutes.
5. repeat steps 3 and 4 until it been 1 hour since you started pumping.

I personally like to do this watching a favorite one hour tv show, it makes the time past faster.  And to eliminate watching the clock, I pump the first 15 minutes and then use commercial breaks as my time to turn off the pump.

You'll want to use your power pumping session in place of a normal pumping session.  I'd recommend doing this once a day for a week and you should notice an increase in your milk supply.  I've had many moms tell me they think they get better results in the morning if they do their power pump in the evening or as the last pump before bed - no scientific reasoning for the timing but hey it's worth a shot!

Happy Pumping!

This is a great question and one that I get from almost every mom when they start pumping! The key to success in building a great breast milk supply is in the beginning. Here's some tips for building a great milk supply to send you on your way to breast pumping success!

1. FREQUENCY - how often you pump is MUCH more important that how long you pump. You want you body to constantly be making milk. For the first 8-12 weeks I recommend pumping every 3 hours.

2. SCHEDULE - Having a schedule is also very important! You need to set a schedule that is similar to you baby's eating pattern. Your body will adjust to routine and will begin to engorge right on schedule after a few weeks. If you are exclusively pumping, try setting the schedule to every 3 hours and pick times that will be the best for you and baby like maybe right before they typically wake up from a nap. A common pumping schedule for the first 8-12 weeks will look like: 12a, 3a, 6a, 9a, 12p, 3p, 6p, 9p

3. CONSISTENCY - You need to be consistent with your pumping, even if you only get an ounce in the whole session. In the beginning, its very common for moms to do a whole20 minute pumping session and only get a few drops - that's okay! You are teaching your body you need more milk and the more consistent you are with your demands the more likely the success. Just the opposite if you only pump when you can fit it in pumping for 10 minutes then skipping 8 hours of pumping and then trying to pump again, you'll quickly kill you supply and if you're at least partially established in your supply you're likely to get clogged ducts. What ever you do DON'T SKIP A SESSION!

4. NO STRESS - Stress is a big killer of the milk supply. The more relaxed a mom is while pumping the more the milk will flow and the more likely she is to have breast pumping success!

5. WATER - You have to stay hydrated! Think about it if you're trying to pump out 20-40oz of liquid per day from your body, it's going to need to pull fluids from somewhere. The more water you drink the more hydrated you are and the more likely you are to have a full and successful pumping session.

There's lots of other methods out there like fenugreek, special teas, and supplements some are proven to help build a good milk supply when pumping and others not so much. More on these to come!

Pumping breast milk certainly isn't the easiest option for moms but it's one more and more are choosing. If you have questions or want more support email me or go on line and search there's lots of wonderful Exclusive Pumping Groups out there to help!