The benefits for babies of breastfeeding have been well documented and in recent times, significant health benefits for women have also been uncovered. However, despite their best efforts, many women experience issues with low supply.

Power pumping

Because breasts work on the principle of supply and demand, using a breast pump is often recommended. Regular pumping delivers to the brain a ‘make more milk!’ message and can be very effective in increasing supply. However, despite regular pumping sessions, many women do not see results as quickly or as effectively as they had hoped. Enter power pumping!

What is power pumping?

Power pumping is a technique that involves mimicking the frequent feeding of a baby experiencing a growth spurt. During these times your baby’s more vigorous, more frequent and longer suckling triggers an increased release of prolactin from the pituitary gland – the ‘make more milk!’ message.

How do I power pump?

Power pumping is not a replacement for regular breast pumping to increase supply. Instead, power pumping is intended to boost your progress by replacing one regular pumping session with a strategically designed alternative. It works by repeatedly emptying the breast, signalling the body to make more milk, more quickly.

To power pump, pick one hour each day or night (eg. 7 am every morning) and use the following pumping pattern:

  1. Pump for 20 minutes; rest 10 minutes
  2. Pump another 10 minutes; rest for 10 minutes
  3. Pump again for 10 minutes; finish

This provides 40 minutes of pumping in a 60 minute period. At other times during the day, use routine pumping. Some women find implementing power pumping on three consecutive days or nights is sufficient, while others may power pump for up to seven consecutive days to get results.

When will I see results?

Some women begin producing extra milk within 48 hours of finishing one cycle. Other women may not start to see results for up to a week so don’t be discouraged if it takes a little longer. The key is perseverance.

Power Pumping Boot Camp!

Some women may find it more effective, both from time management and milk production perspective, to concentrate their efforts and have a power pumping weekend. Some lactation consultants refer to this as a ‘Power Pumping Boot Camp.’

Power Pumping Boot Camp involves using the power pumping pattern at each pumping session for a couple of days before returning to routine pumping. Many women find aiming for four sessions a day for two days effective. Given sleep is just as important to breast milk production as pumping, do not get up to power pump during the night.

Power pumping using a double pump kit

How do I keep track of the time during power pumping?

The obvious answers would seem to be, have a clock handy or use an alarm. However both low supply and pumping can be stressful, and clock watching or fiddling with an alarm may make the experience even more so. Timekeeping strategies which are not quite so accurate time-wise but might be less stressful and ultimately more effective include:

  • Watching a favourite TV program, pumping during the commercials and resting during the show
  • Watching a movie, pumping through one scene and resting during the next
  • Listening to music, pumping during two songs and resting during the next two
  • Reading a book placing your bookmark four to six pages ahead – pump until you reach it and then move it ahead and rest until you reach it again

Are there any other ways to increase success?

As mentioned, pumping can be stressful and uncomfortable. Perhaps the key to making any pumping session better (power or regular) is to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. Ensure you have a comfortable place to sit and to put your feet up. Have a rug handy if the weather is cool and a fan if it is warm. Have your breast pump close at hand and ready to go, and a bottle of water handy as drinking water is essential to producing breast milk. Try to view the time as an opportunity to sit down and slow down rather than another task that must be completed.

Ameda Elite Electric Hospital Grade Breast Pump

What sort of breast pump should I use?

It is important to consider the effectiveness of the style of breast pump used. Electric breast pumps are generally more effective than handheld pumps, especially where the pump is designed to mimic the changes in length, strength and frequency of suction generated by a baby.

High-quality electric breast pumps can be expensive to buy. However, Ameda Elite Hospital Grade Breast Pumps are available for short or long term to hire from Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond to mothers throughout Australia.

Revised 5th September 2020

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Ameda Elite Electric Hospital Grade Breast Pump

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