A practical guide to expressing breast milk

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Health Visiting, copyright © MA Healthcare, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/10.12968/johv.2017.5.9.442

Breast milk provides both long-and short-term health benefits for mother and infant, including reduced risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases for the child and osteoporosis and some cancers for the mother (Renfrew et al, 2012). The World Health Organization (2013) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months and subsequent feeding until 2 years complemented by nutritious foods. In the past, expressed breast milk feeding was chiefly associated with the premature or unwell infant; however, the domestic personal breast pump has evolved into an efficient and aesthetically pleasing device, meaning it has become increasingly common for healthy term infants to be fed via this route (Rasmussen and Geraghty, 2011; Jiang, 2015). This article will provide an overview of expressing milk and a guide for health visitors to advise mothers on the best methods to use.