Breast milk for preterm or sick babies
You may wish to consider expressing your breast milk for your baby whilst they are on the Neonatal Unit, even if you don’t plan to breastfeed your baby, providing your expressed milk will help protect them from infection and help reduce any gut problems such as NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) which unfortunately can affect preterm babies.
This information will help you decide whether you wish to express your breast milk for your baby while they are on the Neonatal Unit. Your breast milk is the best medicine they can receive.
Depending on how early your baby was born they may not be ready to breastfeed directly for some time, but your expressed breast milk/colostrum will be used to help keep their mouth clean and moist (mouthcare) and any milk you express will be given straight away to your baby either orally or down a little feeding tube into their tummy.
Benefits of breast milk for premature babies
The benefits of breastmilk are explained in the following leaflet: PERIPrem Early Breast Milk Patient Leaflet (available in other languages).
Bonding – expressing your breast milk can be challenging, but it can also be very rewarding. It can help you to feel close to your baby and can support you in building a strong bond with your baby. The Importance of relationship building video - Baby Friendly Initiative (unicef.org.uk)
Long term benefits – in the longer term, breastfed babies are at less risk of cot death, obesity and allergies and are less likely to be re-admitted to hospital after they have been discharged. Breast milk helps premature babies with brain development as they grow up. Breastfeeding can also be more convenient and less expensive than formula feeding.
Expressing your breast milk
Your body will produce breastmilk even if you give birth very early, but you need to stimulate your breasts regularly to maintain a good milk yield. You will be encourged to start expressing your milk as soon as possible following delivery, ideally within 1-2 hours as research shows the earlier you start to express the better your long term milk supply will be. We encourage you to collect your first few drops of valuable colostrum by hand expressing and then go directly on the pump after to further stimulate milk production. Hand expression video - Baby Friendly Initiative (unicef.org.uk)
Collecting and maintaining your milk supply
Initially when you express your breasts you may only get a few drops of colostrum (your first milk). This is quite normal and you need to continue to expressing regularly (8-10 times every 24 hours, including once at night between the hours of 2.00am and 4.00am). Ensure that you are taking good care of yourself, take time to rest, eat and drink around expressing your milk.
Tips for ensuring a good milk supply
Express and stay close to your baby, use relaxation techniques whilst expressing, be actively involved in caring for your baby. Use the bonding heart/bows provided from the Neonatal Unit, take photos/videos of your baby to look at if you are separated whilst expressing. Skin to skin should be encouraged whenever possible as this promotes appropriate hormone release for lactation and for baby's brain growth. Ensure your pump collection set fits well, you pump both breasts simultaneously and you empty your breasts each time you express.
Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative | Meeting baby for the first time
Donor breast milk
Some mothers may be unable to express breast milk. If your baby is very low birth weight, born very early or has a medical condition that may require the use of donor breast milk this option will be offered and discussed with you. Your baby may also need some extra milk while your milk supply is increasing. In this case your baby may either receive a standard term formula or a specialist preterm formula, depending on how early they were born, their weight and their clinical condition.
Receiving Donor Milk - Donor's Milk for Babies, UKAMB
Help and support
You can get help and support with expressing from the Neonatal Nurses, Lactation Consultant on the Neonatal Unit, your Midwife and the Infant Feeding Team.
More information can be found on the Maternity Feeding your baby page including details of how to get support with feeding when you go home.
