Breast milk donor

[Hollycollie]

I have a little girl who is nearly 4 months old and 100% breast fed. I have never expressed milk for her and don't own a breast pump but I would like to become a breast milk donor as I am in the lucky position of having plenty of milk. Does anyone have any suggestions or useful advice for me about expressing please?

I've been a milk donor for my local milk bank (try the AMB website to find yours) for about six months now. I did hand express at first but a pump (I have an Ardo Calypso) is a lot quicker and to begin with I could feed DS on one side and pump on the other which saved a lot of time. I will say that the main limitation for me is finding the time to pump as sometimes there just aren't enough minutes in the day! If you want to learn how to hand express, is there a local bf group you could go to?

To donate to our local milk bank you have to have blood tests done by your GP - might be worth checking your local rules and getting that sorted if necessary. There's also the Facebook group Human Milk 4 Human Babies, which people use to find informal local donors. m.facebook.com/HM4HBUK

I'd recommend getting a pump, it's a lot faster.