Is expressing milk the same as breastfeeding, in terms of benefits and volume? Where mother's milk is considered the optimal food for the infant during the first six months of his life, because it contains important nutrients and proteins necessary for the growth of the infant and the development of its brain cells, and through the following article we will talk about the importance and benefits of breastfeeding, and is the process of suctioning milk similar to breastfeeding from where the benefits.
Is expressing milk the same as breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding, as well as expressing milk, are two good ways to feed the infant, because mother’s milk is the best natural food for the infant, and both expressing milk from the mother’s breast and breastfeeding have exactly the same benefits, but the method of suction can replace direct breastfeeding and be an aid to the mother. In some necessary cases, as the mother’s milk naturally contains all the nutrients necessary for the growth of the child during the first year, the suction process also gives similar benefits to breastfeeding directly from the mother’s breast, so the process of choosing between breastfeeding and expressing must be made depending on the situation And one of the two methods should not be dispensed with and completely dependent on the other, because each has its pros and cons that must be taken into account.
expressing breast milk
The process of expressing milk is the process of extracting milk from the breasts through an industrial device so that it is stored to be given to the infant at later times. The milk can be suctioned using a manual suction device, an electric tool, or by hand. The milk can be given directly after suctioning to the infant, and it can also be stored and placed in the refrigerator. It can be used to feed the infant later, and expressing milk can be used for several reasons, including:
- If the infant was born prematurely and is unable to suck from his mother’s breast, or if he suffers from certain disorders and problems that make it necessary to place him in an incubator.
- If the mother is working and will return to work after a while, it is possible to express milk to be given to the infant during the mother’s absence.
- If the mother suffers from full fullness of her breasts and causes her discomfort.
- If the flow of milk is low and the mother wants to increase the flow of milk.
- When introducing solid foods to an infant, the solid food should be extended with some milk.
- If the mother has more than one child, she wants to breastfeed them all.
- If the breastfeeding process causes severe pain to the mother.
Advantages of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding offers a wide range of benefits to the nursing mother, in addition to its benefits in developing the mental abilities of the infant. It also contributes to protecting the mother and the infant from many chronic diseases. Among the most important advantages of breastfeeding are the following:
- Suitable food for the child: where mother’s milk is considered healthy and suitable food for the infant, it contains proteins, minerals, vitamins, healthy fats, and antibodies, in the quantities that the child needs, such as the infant’s saliva, interacts with the mother’s milk, and through this, messages can be sent to the brain about the amount of milk that the infant needs, Which is sufficient for its growth and to protect it from diseases.
- Ensuring the integrated feeding cycle: Increasing the child's breastfeeding from his mother's breast helps to increase the quantity and flow of milk, which contributes to supplying the child with enough of his need, and breastfeeding the child whenever he desires to contribute to increasing the amount of mother's milk.
- Lower costs: Breast milk can help save you the costs of buying milk, but it makes an extra burden on the breastfeeding mother.
- Suitability of the infant: One of the most important advantages of mother’s milk is its suitability for the infant’s intestines and its growth, as it does not cause colic and diarrhea for the infant, and mother’s milk is always ready and does not need to be put into the bottle, and does not need to be sterilized, and its temperature is suitable for the temperature of the infant’s abdomen, which are very important matters.
- Mother’s milk is soothing to the infant: Mother’s milk contains hormones that can help calm the infant, relax him and sleep, and it is a pain reliever that contributes to relieving the pain associated with vaccinations.
- Increasing the bonding between the mother and the infant: Breastfeeding includes physical contact between the mother and the child, which helps to increase relaxation and increase the psychological bonding between the mother and the child, reducing the tension that may affect the mother and the infant, and helps maintain the infant’s body temperature.
Difficulties faced by women during breastfeeding
The process of feeding a child directly from breast milk involves some difficulties such as:
- Inability to organize time: In breastfeeding, the mother must breastfeed her child whenever the child desires to do so, and this can cause the woman to be unable to organize her time, or follow a specific timing for feeding the infant.
- Infection with some skin diseases in the nipples: such as cracking, inflammation, and fungi of the nipples, and the pain increases when the child sucks from the breast.
- Weak sharing: the inability of the father to share with the mother her tasks in caring for the child, which makes the responsibility of the child fall entirely on the mother, which may cause the mother to be deprived of sleep and physical fatigue.
Advantages of expressing milk
Babies who are fed by expressing milk get all the health benefits found in breast milk, but they are not able to touch the mother’s body and get the opposite benefits. Among the advantages of using the pumping method are the following:
- Regulating the time and controlling the timing of feeding: It is possible to make a breastfeeding schedule, separate feedings at appropriate times, pump when desired, and store for later.
- The ability to divide tasks: Using the method of expressing milk helps to divide the duties of caring for the child between the parents, while the process of waking up at night is exhausting for the mother and tiring. It also helps in balancing the role of the mother and father in caring for the infant.
- Solving the problem of the mother’s lack of milk: milk can be sucked after breastfeeding, and this contributes to an increase in the flow of milk, in addition to the availability of a quantity of milk when needed.
- Giving the mother hours to rest: or to go outside the house away from the child, contributes greatly to increasing and improving the mother’s mental health and protecting her from depression.
- Giving milk to other children: The process of expressing milk helps in giving extra milk to other children who were unable to breastfeed from their mothers.
- Saving milk for later periods: such as in the case of the mother’s absence due to a certain health condition or disease that may deprive the child of the ability to breastfeed, and here he finds the frozen milk ready.
Disadvantages of expressing milk
Expressing milk is better than formula feeding, but there are some drawbacks to the process, such as:
- Less protection from diseases: because the antibodies in the mother’s milk are secreted in quantities that correspond to the needs of the infant, and in the case of expressing the milk, the bottled milk may contain antibodies that are less than the case of breastfeeding.
- Additional material costs: As the process of expressing milk requires the purchase of additional equipment such as the suction bottle and pump, and special bags to keep the milk after expressing it.
- Not suitable for expressing milk in all cases: For example, when you go out, expressing milk is confusing compared to breastfeeding, which is done easily.
- Storage risks: Because milk can lose its validity after a period of storage, storing it may be difficult, and may need to find an appropriate way to preserve it.
How to express milk
The infant’s needs for milk change as he grows and increases in size, so there are a set of tips that must be followed when giving the infant milk, which is as follows:
- Number of pumping times per day: During the early stages, the infant must be given a bottle of milk approximately every two hours, which means that the mother must express her breasts approximately every two hours, meaning that milk must be pumped ten to 12 times a day, and as the child grows, the child can breastfeed larger quantities, So a sufficient amount should be stored.
- Duration of each expressing milk session: Each time, milk must be pumped from both breasts for not less than 15 minutes from each breast, and not more than 20 minutes, to ensure that the breasts are emptied to continue pumping milk.
Tips to increase the amount of milk flowing while expressing
There are a set of tips that can be adhered to improve the amount of milk flowing from the breasts during the suction process, such as:
- Increasing the number of pumping times: The increase in the number of pumping times makes the breasts empty, which stimulates the breasts to produce more milk.
- Expressing after breastfeeding: It is a good method when the baby does not breastfeed in sufficient quantities and some of the milk remains in the breasts.
- Suctioning from both breasts together: using two breast pumps, and using a specially designed bra to hold the suction tool so that the mother can use her hands comfortably.
- Take nutritional supplements and herbs: that can help increase milk production from the breasts, such as fenugreek, brewer's yeast, and oats.
- Access to healthy foods: adequate calories, and adequate amounts of water, as the mother must drink at least 10 glasses of water per day.
- Relax and stay away from stress: this is very important for pumping sufficient amounts of milk, in addition to not comparing the amount of milk with anyone because the number of milk glands in the breast varies from one mother to another.
- Looking at the pictures of the baby: holding him and keeping him close to the mother, contributes to increasing the mother’s tenderness and stimulates the breast to produce more milk, and makes the mother have a negative reaction to the production of milk.
After this article, it was identified through the previous lines, is expressing milk the same as breastfeeding, and it was found that there are several reasons why the mother resorts to expressing milk, and the pros and cons of both breastfeeding and suction were identified, in addition to mentioning some ways to increase milk supply. Breast milk.