Antenatal Hand Expressing

What you need to know about Antenatal Hand Expressing .

Antenatal hand expressing is when you use your hand to squeeze out your colostrum (first milk) before baby is born.

Antenatal hand expressing is particularly useful if you are diabetic, having a planned caesarean section, having twins or triplets, or if you know your baby might arrive early.

You can hand express 2-3 times a day for anything up to 10 minutes. Don’t worry if you don’t get much, or anything. Even trying to hand express can help your milk supply increase quicker after baby is born.

For some babies, having this extra milk may reduce the chance that they will need to go to the neonatal unit, as it will help them regulate their blood sugars, keeping you and your baby together.

Your midwife will give you some 1ml syringes and a spoon. Express onto the spoon and draw it up into the syringe. You can add more colostrum to the same syringe for up to 24 hours whilst storing it in the fridge.

Store your colostrum in the freezer at home and bring it with you into the hospital in a cool bag with an ice pack. We will put it into our freezer. Remember to label it with your patient stickers.

How to hand express

1. Gently massage your breast and nipple.
2. Position you thumb and fingers in a ‘C’ shape about 2-3cm from the base of your nipple.
   
3. To express, gently compress and release, and repeat until your colostrum begins to flow.
4. Avoid sliding your fingers over the skin, as this may make you sore.
5. You may only get a few drops, or you may get nothing at all and that is normal. 1:4 people who try hand expressing don’t see any colostrum. If you do see drops, collect these drops on a spoon.
   
6. When the flow stops move your fingers around your breast and repeat.
7. Hand express from both breasts.
8. Draw up the collected colostrum into the syringe provided and replace the cap. Place the syringe into the fridge, you can add to the same syringe for up to 24 hours.
9. After 24 hours, or if the syringe is full, label it with you name, hospital number and the date. Place it in the freezer.
10.  If you are birthing in hospital, bring your frozen colostrum with you in a cool bag with ice packs. Please check it is labelled correctly before handing it to a member of staff to be safely stored in the freezer.

Here is a short video to show you how to hand express

Further information

If your symptoms or condition worsens, or if you are concerned about anything, please call your GP, 111, or 999. 

Patient Experience

We know that being admitted to hospital can be a difficult and unsettling time for you and your loved ones. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with a member of staff on the ward or in the relevant department who will do their best to answer your questions and reassure you.

Feedback

Feedback is really important and useful to us – it can tell us where we are working well and where improvements can be made.

There are lots of ways you can share your experience with us including completing our Friends and Family Test – cards are available and can be posted on all wards, departments and clinics at our hospitals. We value your comments and feedback and thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

If you have any concerns or questions about your care, we advise you to talk with the nurse in charge or the department manager in the first instance as they are best placed to answer any questions or resolve concerns quickly.

If the relevant member of staff is unable to help resolve your concern, you can contact the PALS Team. We offer informal help, advice or support about any aspect of hospital services & experiences.

Our PALS team will liaise with the various departments in our hospitals on your behalf, if you feel unable to do so, to resolve your problems and where appropriate refer to outside help.

If you are still unhappy you can contact the Complaints Department, who can investigate your concerns. You can make a complaint orally, electronically or in writing and we can advise and guide you through the complaints procedure.

How to contact PALS

Telephone Patient Services: 0300 123 1732 or via email at: wah-tr.PALS@nhs.net

Opening times

The PALS telephone lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4pm. Please be aware that you may need to leave a voicemail message, but we aim to return your call within one working day.

If you are unable to understand this leaflet, please communicate with a member of staff.

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