New mothers more likely to succeed at breastfeeding if they hand express

New mothers expressing breast milk by hand are more likely to succeed at breastfeeding than those using manual pumps, new research indicates.

According to findings by the University of California and published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, hand expressing is better for poorly feeding newborns who may latch on or suck badly.

The findings came from 68 mothers with poorly feeding infants who were asked to either hand express or pump milk between 12 and 36 hours after birth.
No difference in the amount of breast milk or pain levels could be found using either method.

But when breastfeeding rates were monitored at the babies ages of 1 week, 1 month and 2 months, breastfeeding rates were higher among those who had hand expressed their breast milk.