Being a new mom can be an exhilarating, yet an increasingly overwhelming experience. You need to be on your guard throughout the day and take care of every need of your little one. Your partner has equal responsibilities but keep in mind the fact that feeding your infant becomes your sole responsibility, in case you are breastfeeding instead of using formula. We don’t intend to discourage breastfeeding, because there are innumerable benefits of it. However, what if we say that your infant can be breast-fed without you being solely responsible for it? That’s right, there is a way! The answer to this dilemma is a breast pump.
A breast pump is a mechanical device that lactating mothers use to pump and store their milk in bottles. By doing so, you can easily juggle your responsibilities as a mother and as an individual. You can relax a bit more and also make your partner an equal shareholder in this task. Read on to find out about the 11 reasons why you need to buy a breast pump immediately:
11 Reasons Why You Might Need a Breast Pump
You don’t have to resort to formula:
By expressing her own breast milk, a mother can continue to feed her child only breast milk even when they must be apart during baby’s meal times.
Work-life balance:
For many new mothers, returning to work shortly after giving birth is a reality, but by pumping and storing milk while at work a mother can continue to provide her baby with breast milk as long as she would like.
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Break from feeding:
When mom expresses breast milk for later feedings, dad and older siblings can give feedings to help mom and bond with the new baby. This also gives the father an equal chance to be a part of this feeding responsibility.
Time for relaxation:
Breastfeeding on demand can easily wear any mother out occasionally. Having a bottle of expressed milk available allows mom to take some much needed time for herself while someone else takes care of baby. This relaxation will make the mother less irritable and tired.
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In case the infant is too sick to feed:
In order to provide breast milk for a premature baby that is too weak to breastfeed a mother can use a hospital grade pump to express milk for feedings. A pump will also provide breast stimulation to increase and maintain a sufficient supply of milk, so that the baby can have the milk after recovering.
Increasing milk production:
A breast pump can be used to stimulate a mother’s breast to induce milk production to breastfeed an adopted baby. Breastfeeding is a great way for a mother and her adopted child to bond and will not make the bay feel out of place for even once.
Read More: Breast Milk Storage: 11 Dos and Don’ts for Breast Milk Storage
Create an emergency supply:
A mom can pump and store an emergency supply of breast milk in her freezer to use for feedings in case she becomes sick or needs to take medication. This emergency supply will provide for the baby then.
Relieve pain:
When a mother’s breasts are overly full and engorged with breast milk, she can use a breast pump to express enough milk to provide relief from pain. This happens often. A mother’s breast might be overflowing with milk, while her baby is not hungry anymore. This condition is quite uncomfortable and painful for the woman, especially if she is working. A breast pump solves this problem quite easily.
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Draw out flat or inverted nipples:
Mothers with flat or inverted nipples can have trouble when trying to get baby to latch on properly. By pumping a few minutes before breastfeeding, a mother can draw out her nipple so that baby can nurse more easily. This problem is quite common and proves to be a hassle for new mothers. But a breast pump solves the entire problem.
Providing milk for multiple babies:
Breastfeeding one child can be very demanding on a mother and feeding twins or other multiples only increases the demand and challenge for a mother. By pumping milk, a mother of multiples can provide her children with breastmilk without having to nurse around the clock. Therefore, these pumps come as blessings for women, who have twins or multiple babies and have to constantly think about feeding and maintaining all of them together.
Read More: 5 ways to tackle oversupply of milk for new moms
Maintaining the supply:
By using a breast pump to stimulate milk production, a mother can keep her supply up so that she can breastfeed her baby when they are together. Maintaining the supply helps in maintain the meal-time of the baby.
In this age, when the women aim to have an equal position irrespective of their maternal position, it is extremely important to provide them the basic tools and help required to achieve this. Men need to acknowledge their share of responsibility too. A breast pump can prove to be a blessing for all lactating mothers.
