Expressing milk

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I have a 7 week old who lost lots of weight in the early days. Enough to be admitted to the neonatal unit. After a week of topping up I have been ebf.
She has gained weight but in the last week or so I have noticed a drop in her position on the centiles. 75% at birth. Had been tracking on 50% line but down again this week. So between 25th and 50th.
I would like to express so I know she is getting some decent feeds. She is abit of a grazer on the breast.
But how much do I give? Should I give same amount as formula recomendations or is breast milk richer or less rich?
Any advice appreciated?
Thank you.

Hi, I don't really know about how much ebm to give, but just wanted to say that my DS was similar, born at 91st centile, then dropped down to 50th over the first couple of months where he's stayed ever since. It can be worrying but I think it's normal - the way it was explained to me is that their birth weight is more determined by how efficient the placenta is, then once they're born they will either 'catch up' or 'catch down' to where they're 'meant' to be.

Growing slower than the charts say they 'should' is still growing, not losing weight, and as long as she is alert, producing wet & dirty nappies etc then I wouldn't worry (although I did when my DS had this pattern, mother's job to worry!) I didn't express but I did try to feed a bit more frequently, not sure if this made a difference but he stopped dropping down the centiles.

How much you express is not really an indication of how much baby will get directly feeding from you. Some women never get anything by expressing, but EBF for months.

I would aim to give about 3 or 4 oz. Breast milk is digested more easily than formula, so if you were to give a bottle of EBM she wouldn't "last as long" to the next feed as opposed if you gave her the same amount of formula.

Don't panic about centiles too much. Concentrate on her wet/dirty nappies, how alert she is etc. My LO has dropped on the weight centiles, but his head and length are still the same.

Thank you.