Breast compression is a tool which is useful when you need to improve milk removal by your baby or a breast pump. External pressure can increase the flow of milk. 

Lactating breasts naturally release milk when a baby or pump triggers the let-down reflex. A well-attached baby doesn't need additional help removing milk. However there are circumstances where babies benefit from the technique.

It's almost routinely suggested by midwives and child health nurses if a baby isn't gaining weight according to their expectations or even appears to have lost weight beyond that normally expected in the first week of life. Yet what is commonly known as Triple Feeding can lead to women completely giving up on breastfeeding, deciding to exclusively pump their milk or to mixed feed with infant formula until they cease all breastmilk feeding weeks or months later.

While some mothers might never need to express their breastmilk, these days it is something most breastfeeding women will need or choose to do. Sometimes as part of a management plan to overcome breastfeeding problems, sometimes it is part of returning to paid work, study or other regular or occasional separations of mother and baby.

It is a skill which is threatened with extinction as more and more breast pumps are sold around the world, however it is something all breastfeeding women should be taught. Relying on electric or even manual breast pumps to provide your baby’s breastmilk leaves you vulnerable to outages and unexpected damage or loss of equipment.