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.

A human infant needs an enormous amount of support to reach the stage of independence, more than any other species on earth. Taking on that commitment, ahead of all other possibilities, is the greatest demand there is. If we just look raising a child to “breeding age” (puberty) we are looking at 12-15 years. Brain maturity is reached around 25 years.

A mother bonds with her infant during the postnatal period. Bonding probably begins in pregnancy but it is during during the immediate skin-to-skin period after birth when it really kicks in. It is a process which develops over the following days and weeks.

Bonding is a two-way process. The baby needs to bond with their mother just as much as she does with them

By the late 1980s, mothers were no longer advised to limit feeds by the clock. The descriptors Foremilk and Hindmilk were intended to describe how the milk glands released milk high in fat during the let-down and breastmilk becomes increasingly richer as a feed progresses. Advice to mothers changed from offering both breasts equally at each feed to allowing babies to “finish the first breast first” so they could get this richer hind-milk.

When it comes to milk production problems, low supply gets all of the attention. Identifying the cause and resolving it, supplementing the breastmilk intake and supporting the mother emotionally.

The mother who appears to have far more breastmilk than her baby needs almost seems to be mocking those who have too little. Talking about their frustration or their baby’s symptoms in groups can attract nasty comments and mothers learn who to share their feelings around. However for some women, too much breastmilk has a significant impact on their daily life and that of their infant.

Hyperlactation or hypergalactia occurs naturally in some women and is self-induced in others. Physical causes can include thyroid or pituitary disorders. Prolactin is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland which has a key role in milk production. High levels of prolactin can be responsible for hyperlactation. Where oversupply is having a significant impact on either mother or baby it is worth having your doctor run some tests to rule out any medical cause. However, in the majority of cases, there is no underlying medical condition.

Has anyone ever told you their milk dried up overnight? Or they lost their supply after six weeks? Twelve weeks? Or somewhere in between?

Someone should have explained to them what was really happening.

Perceived low milk supply is so common, it is actually listed as one of the top reasons mothers stop breastfeeding or begin supplementing with formula. Perceived - not actual - low milk production. There is a difference.

Exclusive breastfeeding is a global guideline for all infants in the first six months of life. It means that babies are given no foods other than human milk in their first half-year. No infant formula, no juices, no teas, no cereals, no “solids”.

Breastmilk contains all the nutrition a baby needs and supplements are not required.

Sounds great! So what's the problem?

Ideally, every baby should be given the opportunity to meet these health guidelines. However, there are many obstacles placed in their way and unfortunately, very few babies in the world are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.

How’s life, Breastfeeding Mama?

Tired? That's because you're Breastfeeding!

(No, it's because you have a newborn baby!)

Struggling to keep up? That's because you're Breastfeeding!

(No, it's because you are now responsible for a whole extra person and you are still adjusting to that.)

Sometimes those supporting a breastfeeding mother might suggest her baby is feeding too much and her baby shouldn’t be at the breast so much.

Research has shown that babies breastfeed around 8-12 times in 24 hours. HOWEVER, the same research showed some babies feed as many as 17 times in 24 hours!!! Let’s unpack what this might look like:

24 divided by 8 equals 3 and 24 divided by 12 equals 2: which might suggest babies feed every 2-3 hourly. However, that’s not how things work. Its not like setting a timer on your phone to tell you when to eat!

Humans are social beings designed to live cooperatively in groups. Unlike the solitary orang-utan who raises one child to adulthood before breeding again - a cycle of around 8 years - humans average around 3-4 years between babies and rely on the support of others in their community to keep them alive. The intense care required by the relatively immature human infant leaves little time for much else so grandmothers, aunts, cousins, sisters and daughters step in. Traditional hunter-gatherer communities understand that keeping the next generation alive supports their own future well-being. When not caring for the very young, these women are caring for the very old. The continuity of care across the ages is part of what makes humans such a unique species.

Throughout human history, people have lived in tight-knit communities and shared the responsibilities of raising children. Mothers have always worked and young infants typically stay within reach of the breasts in arms or a baby carrier while they go about their day. Older babies and toddlers however might be gathered together to be cared for as a group - what we know as a creche - to allow women to focus without constantly supervising groups of children. Often older girls and even grandfathers would be responsible for supervising smaller children. And a lactating member of the community would make her breast available to any babies and toddlers whose own mother was busy elsewhere.

Too many mothers who set out to exclusively breastfeed their babies leave hospital supplementing with infant formula. These parents have made a decision in pregnancy - or even before - and expected to breastfeed their babies.

So, while a lot of focus is given to expectant parents "choosing" between breastfeeding or formula feeding, very little attention is paid to the decision whether to continue breastfeeding once formula has become part of the picture.

Mothers need encouragement and support to maintain the breastmilk supply they do have and not be dismissed by assurance that “formula is just as good”. It is a slap in the face to imply their efforts to breastfeed don't really matter.

When breastmilk supply becomes a medical problem for mother and/or baby, it is easy for formula to be seen as a "solution". However, breastfeeding is much more than just food and mothers need time and space to consider their breastfeeding relationship with their child and how that might look going forward.

Breastfeeding is natural. But it doesn’t all come naturally.

Where children grow up surrounded by women and frequently see babies of all ages going to the breast, they learn the process without realising. They see the positions used by mothers with newborns and how they change as the baby grows. They here the wisdom of elders guide the new mothers to improve their milk supply or help a baby improve their latch. Small girls will mimic the maternal behaviour, while older girls learn to recognise feeding cues. As they approach their own matrescence they are guided by experienced breastfeeding mothers. And they are nurtured during the first 40 days, where they are not expected to do anything more than recover and learn to breastfeed their baby.

Often we will describe babies as having an unsettled or “fussy” period in their day or during periods of rapid development. But what does that mean?

Some babies are pretty chilled and its easy to spot when they are feeling a bit overwhelmed. But other babies seem to feel this way most of the time! Sometimes we describe them as “high needs babies”.

Many people expect a breastfeeding mother to lose her milk. They believe milk supply can dry up suddenly. It is a case of when, not if, that a mother will need to begin supplementing with formula. In fact, some family, friends or even health professionals have so little faith in breastfeeding being successful, they suggest parents keep formula on hand at home, just in case.

Humans and other mammals have relied on breastfeeding to keep infants alive for thousands of years. Breastfeeding is designed to sustain a baby completely until they start to eat family foods after six months and is then part of the natural diet for at least two to four years of age! Surely it can’t suddenly have become unreliable?

If you give birth without intervention and have uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact with your baby for at least one hour after birth and your baby attached and breastfed, you can expect changes to begin around 30-40 hours after the placenta is expelled.

You might begin to see signs of your milk “coming in” over the following days however what you will definitely experience is signs of your baby taking it out!

It is normal for babies around the second to fourth days to be fussy, unsettled and feeding constantly around the clock. This is one of the most demanding stages of breastfeeding.