2023-08-01 09:11:53
The addition to work or travel make it difficult for many mothers to adequately breastfeed their babies. The sacaleches are medical devices that serve, among other things, as solution to make breastfeeding compatible with other activities of everyday life.
In addition, they are very useful for maintain or increase milk production women’s or relieve swollen breasts and milk ducts.
According to experts, its use should not replace the natural lactation process and the instructions and hygienic recommendations must always be followed.
On the occasion of the World Breastfeeding Week maternal 2023from August 1 to 7 and with the slogan “Breastfeeding and working: let’s make it possible!”, Montserrat Angulo, president of the College of Nursing of Alicante and member of the Plenary of the Nursing Council of the Valencian Community (CECOVA) and the General Nursing Council (CGE), in an interview with EFEsalud, explains how and when to use breast pumps and offers some tips for using them correctly and thus favoring both mother and baby.
What are they and when to use breast pumps?
“A breast pump is a device that helps to extract breast milk. It is made up of a cup that is attached to the breast, which must always collect the areola and the nipple and that, through a vacuum system and massage of the areola, helps to extract milk”, explains the midwife.
The expert points out that milk extraction can be done whenever and during the lactation time that the mother decides.
“In some very specific cases and for different reasons, extraction can be done even before the end of the pregnancy, but it is normal to use it from the birth of the baby and as long as the mother wants to continue breastfeeding,” says Angulo.
The professional remembers that to breastfeed a baby it is not essential to extract milk, but it is recommended if you want increase production or if the mother for work or other reasons must be separated from her child.
“Most women at some point choose to extract milk to feed their babies when they can no longer spend as much time with them,” she says.
What are the most recommended?
exist different types of breast pumpseach with different functionalities, designed for different situations and for different types of mothers.
He manual expression breast pump It is, according to the midwife, for very specific moments: “It is the cheapest and simplest and as such it is not the most comfortable for very long or constant extractions”.
On the other hand, the electric breast pumps They can be of higher or lower power, wireless or not. “There are also those designed for a single feeding, that is, for a single breast, or for both at the same time and this makes them quite practical for the different needs of the mother,” the expert points out.
The most modern are hands free breast pumps “You wear them on your breasts under your bra, without the need for any separate connector, and while they are active they are extracting your milk,” explains the professional.
Once the breast pumps are filled, the professional affirms that they are very comfortable, especially when it comes to pouring them into the container intended to store the milk.
Tips for Safe and Effective Extraction
The midwife ensures that Ideally, the baby and the mother should always be together. during lactation time.
The extraction that the breast pumps make will always be less than the amount that the baby can remove by sucking.
On occasions when, for work or other reasons, this is not possible, the expert highlights the following essential guidelines To make this process more efficient:
The woman needs a lot practice and learning to make milk extraction more effective.
Tranquillity: it is essential that the mother is calm and relaxed. The expert explains that oxytocin is one of the hormones that most influence childbirth and lactation and is responsible for the ejection of milk. Through calm and serenity we can help the body produce more levels of oxytocin. It is preferable to perform short but more frequent extractions because this facilitates and increases milk production. According to the professional, maternal milk production increases the greater the frequency of feedings. In cases where the newborn baby has to be hospitalized in the neonatal unit and is not with the mother, it is recommended use manual extraction since it is, according to the matron, the more efficient for the extraction of colostrum, which is the first milk you produce when you start breastfeeding. In any case, the specialist recommends always consult a professional sanitary. Montserrat Angulo, midwife and president of the Alicante College of Nursing. Courtesy image.
Using breast pumps correctly: hygiene and care
“Like any other food, the breast milk that is extracted can be contaminated,” says the midwife.
Sterilizing breast pumps from the start is one of the recommendations offered by the expert, but she stresses that post-use hygiene is the most important thing.
“The best thing is to wash them with soap and water after use and leave them in a safe place,” explains the president of the Alicante College of Nursing.
respect tol mother’s groomingespecially emphasizes the care and washing of the hands and remembers that if normal body hygiene is followed, it is not necessary to clean the nipple every time you go to express milk.
Advantages and disadvantages of using breast pumps
Between the main advantagesMontserrat Angulo mentions:
The increase in milk production is the main advantage and one of the greatest benefits of breast pumps. Also It is very practical when the mother cannot be near the baby but wants to continue with feeding based on breast milk.
In between the disadvantages the expert highlights:
Misuse of breast pumps or use a glass that is not suitable It can cause injuries at the time of extraction. Another disadvantage would be the possible consequences derived from not following the recommendations and hygienic measures before, during and after the use of breast pumps.
Lourdes’ experience with her daughter Mariela
On August 31, 2022, Mariela was born at the General Hospital of Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real). From the moment of her delivery, her mother, Lourdes Alcaide, was clear that she would use a breast pump since, in just six weeks, she had to return to work.
“From the beginning it was clear to me that I was going to need it, but I waited until the last moment to buy it because I didn’t really know how much milk I was going to have,” explains this first-time mother in an interview with EFEsalud.
She settled on a hands-free breast pump that she bought online.
“I would put it under my bra while cleaning or tidying up the house, sometimes I would hold it on because I had the feeling that I would get more milk that way, but the truth is that once you get used to it, it’s not uncomfortable at all,” admits Lourdes.
The baby, although she refused the first bottle, quickly adapted without complications.
From the third week of birth, the mother was combining milk extraction with natural feedings when they were together.
Lourdes Alcaide recently with her daughter Mariela. Courtesy image.
“I would breastfeed when I was with the girl and pump her when I went to work. She kept it in special little bags that she left in the refrigerator and also in the freezer so that during the afternoon her father or grandparents could give it to her ”, she recounts.
“I used the breast pump until I was seven or eight months old, when I started complementary feeding,” says Lourdes, who always kept a bag of milk in the freezer “just in case.”
“For me, breast pumps have been a great advantage because without them I could not have combined breastfeeding with work in any way,” she continues.
Lourdes Alcaide recommends that other new mothers use breast pumps whenever needed and advises “not to wait and start using them as soon as possible, because the body gets used to pumping and it is much more agile and easy.”
Pediatricians claim compatibility between breastfeeding and work
Precisely the incorporation to work supposes a handicap for breastfeeding. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef, some 500 million women in the world do not benefit from essential maternity protection measures.
Just 20% of countries require companies to provide employees with paid breaks and facilities for lactation or milk expression.
WHO campaign poster for World Breastfeeding Week 2023.
In this way, and on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) proposes to companies a series of measures to improve the breastfeeding area and facilitate their compatibility with work.
Among the proposals stand out: rest periods so that mothers can breastfeed their children or extract milk; adequate, intimate and dignified spaces to do it; variety of options to make breastfeeding and work compatible; greater flexibility in schedules and sufficient information for all employees about these policies.
According to the Dr. Susana Ares Seguracoordinator of the Breastfeeding area of the Nutrition and Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (CNYLM-AEP), “these measures will not only benefit the mother, but also the company itself.”
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