There are situations when the mother cannot breastfeed directly her baby due to various reasons. Yet, you can continue to nourish your baby with breast milk if you express and store breast milk for baby’s use.
Breast milk expression
Expressions in a day should be similar as that of the normal breastfeeding
- When preparing your breasts for expression, you may use breast massage gel when massaging your breasts
- You may express breast milk by hand or by using a breast pump
Repeated expression of breast milk helps in the production of milk and relieves mammary swelling and eliminates duct blockage.
Preserve breastmilk
| Freezer (Approx.-18°C) | Refrigerator | |
| Fresh breast milk | 3 weeks | 24 hours |
| Thawed breast milk but not warmed | Do not refreeze | 24 hours |
Advice on express breast milk
TIP 1:
Breast milk should not be microwaved, as much of the nutritive value would be lost and hot spots formed as a result of uneven heating could scald your baby.
TIP 2:
Breast milk that has been warmed / thawed should not be refrigerated or frozen.
TIP 3:
It is advisable to thaw frozen breast milk naturally by putting the breast milk to thaw overnight at the refrigerator.
TIP 4:
To thaw breast milk taken out from freezer, put the frozen breast milk bag/bottle in a container of warm water (approx. 40°C) and change the water frequently to allow milk to warm up faster. Alternatively, a warmer could be used to thaw/warm breast milk for the convenience.
