Expressing simply means removing milk from your breasts, so that it can be given to your baby by someone else, usually in a cup or a bottle. Expressing allows you to continue to give your baby all the nutritional benefits of your breast milk, even when you can’t feed your baby yourself. There are many reasons why you may choose to express your milk:
- To build up a store of milk for when you can’t be with your baby.
- To relieve engorged breasts.
- To stimulate extra milk production.
- To give your partner the opportunity to get involved with feeding.
- To give you the chance to take time out.