Why do some people pump more?

[Gigi10]

Just curious- why do some women breastfeeding women manage to pump a bottle in 10 mins while some maybe only manage 30ml?

My boobs just don't get that much out through pumping and my breasts never got huge and had when I started BFing...so sometimes it's a mental battle to believe my baby is gaining enough. She's always been petite like me and a bit of a slow gainer due to reflux and allergies etc, but she is gaining. Once a midwife mentioned it was due to low supply and ever since, I just cannot shake the thought. DD has plenty of heavy wet nappies and fairly frequent dirty ones.

I'm just wondering if people who can pump loads have an oversupply?

Huge and hard*

I don't know why some women can pump more but I imagine pump type and practise can influence it. Don't worry if you can't though. I always had loads of milk (milk spraying out, leaking, hard breasts) and never managed to pump much.

Babies can get milk out of a breast more efficiently than a pump, so don't worry that your little girl isn't getting enough if she's gaining weight and making wet and dirty nappies.
Wrt some women pumping more than others this could be down to something as simple as different pumps! But also, different women have different storage capacity (unrelated to the size of the breasts). So one woman might be able to store 100ml in each boob and her baby might do fewer, bigger feeds, while another woman might store 30ml in each boob and her baby will do more frequent, smaller feeds.
One thing that can help increase your supply when pumping is... not worrying about your supply when pumping :) If you're constantly checking the bottle and worrying about how little is in there, you're interfering with the hormones involved in milk production. Put a baby sock over the bottle so you can't see how much is in there, put an absorbing tv show or podcast on, and pump for your usual time without thinking about how mùch you're pumping, safe in the knowledge that your baby is healthy and growing and that your body is sustaining her.

I believe it's got to do with the letdown, mine was strong and forceful. My baby never fed longer than 2-5 minutes even after a week old.

I pumped 400ml at work in 10-15 minutes from 6-9 months.

I think it's to do with letdown too and storage capacity.
Mine literally shoots out. With first ds I remember once pumping 16oz in one sitting.

Your pumping ability has nothing to do with your babies ability to feed. Pumping is a skill that needs to be mastered between the right type of pump and knowing your body (I pumped at work for 9 months). Babies come in all shapes and sizes and if your baby is happy then she's all grand.

Generally bf babies only need an ounce to an ounce and a half per hour (max 4 ounce bottles regardless of age) so don't expect a 10 ounce pumping session.

I've tried three different pumps and could never get much out. But my dd was ebf and on the chubby side. So there were definitely no problems with supply.

Your breast makes milk by demand. So baby can't drink the boob dry. I think for some people the pumps just can't stimula production and/or release properly. Some people also store more milk than others. My left breast hardly stores any but the right stores loads. So if baby misses a feed I get very lop sided.

Just trust that if baby is having wet and dirty nappys and is gaining weight - you're doing fine.