Pumping

When you start pumping has to do with how much of a supply you want to create. If you start pumping early, your body will assume you need to make more milk, and you’ll be more likely to produce an oversupply when your milk comes in after baby is born. However much milk is removed from breast, via baby or pump, is how much your body will continue to produce. So the more you pump, the more milk you’ll make! If you don’t want to bottle feed right away, I wouldn’t worry about pumping yet. There’s no harm in waiting! It would just give you more colostrum to freeze and store, if that’s what you’re wanting to do. If you do choose to start pumping soon, you could freeze whatever colostrum/milk you get. You don’t have to bottle feed it to baby right away.

Hope this helps! Feel free to message me if you have more questions!

At first days after birth hand expression is great. The best way to stimulate milk production is to breastfeed directly, frequently. You can combine hand expressions and skin to skin. In some cases you should intreduce pumping even early if baby latch is not efficieng enough or there is some seperation from the baby. This early phase is important to your milk supply.