Should I express and how often?

[hannahbanananana]

So I'm very early on in my pregnant (8 weeks) but thought it best to start thinking about these things... Appreciate it's very early days, but curious.

I'm planning on breast-feeding but wondered whether it's a good idea to express from the start? I'm thinking incase OH needs to feed if I'm in the bath or whatever, or maybe so he doesn't feel left out, if I have an infection or if baby isn't feeding well. I'm planning on going back to work part-time after 12months so will probably need to express then anyway. Would it be worth getting into the habit of pumping everyday, and storing it in the fridge/freezer so we've always got a good supply if needed. If so, how often should I pump?

Expressing milk can be very useful, and I wouldn't ever consider beginning breastfeeding without having a pump at home!! But maybe that's just me. I expressed in the beginning because DS was too weak to feed at the breast, and even when we managed to switch to exclusive breastfeeding I kept expressing for a while until I had a few bottles in the freezer. That way, I didn't bother expressing when I went anywhere, there was always enough for a few feeds in the freezer (don't do this when you're still building up milk supply). I'd definitely recommend getting a pump and freezing milk, but only once you've established bf, say after three weeks or so. Ten bottles of 100ml milk each is a good supply, but expressing 100 ml can be quite a task. It might take two or three attempts in one day to get 100 ml. You'll find pumping more often than that when you're bf is a real challenge!
All the best for your pregnancy!