How to increase breastmilk volume

[NV42]

I have a few questions:

1. I am renting the Medela Symphony and I can go up to level 6 of intensity for expressing as 7 hurts. Does the intensity impact how much milk volume one expresses? Currently I am on 450ml per day which is not enough for both twins. 🙁
2. Have you found a handsfree bra that you can use with the Medela Symphony? It needs to have straps as my breasts are heavy.
3. I also bought the Elvie Stride for when I stop renting the Medela Symphony. Has anyone used it and if yes are you happy with it? Any tips when using it?

Are you expressing through the night?

I would defintely recommend joining breastfeeding twins and triplets uk on Facebook for some evidence based advice. They’re really friendly and informative

Sleep, op. If you can get a 5+ hour stretch per night that will really help. Exhaustion and the stress of exhaustion really hinders milk production. Oh and drink at least 5 pints of water a day.

I follow Lucy Webber feeding support on instagram. She is an IBCLC and she posted ages ago that massaging the breasts before pumping has been proven to increase volume so that may be something to try if you haven’t already. It’s probably worth a look at her page and scrolling through a bit if you get the chance to see if you can see any other bits of useful info.

I have also read on her page that a lot of people have the wrong flange size and need smaller than what is typically supplied which then leads to more milk being expressed. There are guides online for how to measure etc.
Medela themselves sell bras with straps you can use for pumping. I got the biggest size they do which works ok for me with my 42g breasts.

Most importantly congratulations on your babies and well done on the pumping so far. It’s gruelling so be very proud of yourself.

gentle massage before pumping, checking fit and pumping to comfort (not necessarily higher levels) are all good. Milk production has nothing to do with your fluids so just drink to your thirst and pump as often as you can. The more milk you take then the more you make. A gap of more then five hours reduces your supply so keep that as your single biggest. Keep your pump in the fridge and don’t faff with endless sterilising (within sensible limits) so you can do lots of mini top up pumps when you have a chance.

speak to one of the great feeding helplines for more personalised support

A good diet is important for milk production as well as the advice you've been given above. Drink lots of water, drink milk. Eat oats, so porridge, flapjacks, cookies etc. Take some multivitamins if you aren't already, there are some specially designed for breastfeeding women. And rest as much as you can. But the best way to increase milk production is to feed on the breast as much as you can, even if it's only for a short period.

Hi op, the hospital you gave birth in should have an infant feeding specialist. They should be able to give you a feeding/ pumping plan and support you with this. I'd also encourage you to join a local bf support group as lots of mums will have had similar experiences, many of the mums in my group exclusively pump or combi feed etc so any form of bf is welcomed.

I found eating lots of oats really helpful in increasing supply and I also found that looking at photos or videos of ds when pumping helped encourage let down. Some women get really stressed over the amounts they're expressing and stress inhibits let down so covering the bottles with socks so you can't see what you're pumping might help relax. Make sure you're warm and calm and not going to be interrupted, some breast compression beforehand can help as well. Make sure you're pumping regularly and I found that pumping at the same time daily was important for me. You can power pump, 10 min pump, 10 min break, 10 min pump 10 min break, 10 min pump to try and boost supply as it mimics cluster feeding. Tbh I'd be trying to pump 2 hrly day and night to mimic the way you'd feed... prolactin levels are also higher at night so you might find you get more/ better " quality " milk during the night. Flange size and comfort are really important you don't want to be sore or damage your nipples using the wrong size. I also found I needed to toggle the settings sometimes and starting gently and building it up was helpful. Plug in pumps are usually more powerful in terms of suction than wireless. I'd probably be inclined to try and go for a hospital grade pump if you haven't already. Lots of water and make sure you're eating enough.. take care of yourself- you're the cog that keeps everything else turning.

Congrats on your babies!!