Expressing your milk by hand or with a pump helps you establish and maintain your milk production if you're separated from your baby or if he isn't breastfeeding well. And if your milk production is low, expressing can help increase it whilst also providing extra milk to give to your baby.

Does expressing milk increase supply?

If you have to spend time apart from your baby, and you're unable to breastfeed, this will impact the amount of breastmilk you produce. Regularly expressing your milk will help maintain your milk supply.

How long should you express for?

Get comfortable and express your milk for as long as it is flowing well rather than letting time guide you. This will vary between women: for some five minutes on one breast will be enough while others will find it helpful to spend 15/20 minutes. It's usually more efficient to pump both breasts at the same time.