Using your hands to express your breast milk often takes a little while to master. Some women find that hand expressing their milk comes naturally, others find it an awkward and slow process. Many women find it is initially frustrating and tedious, but after being shown the proper technique and practising, they eventually get the knack. Being able to hand express is a useful skill to have. However, if you are finding hand expressing frustrating, tiring or unproductive, you may wish to try using a breast pump. A breast pump may also be a better option if you are needing to express for every feed, or you may choose to hand express at some times, and use a breast pump at others.

The advantages of hand expressing are:

	It costs nothing.
	It is convenient, no breast pumps to prepare, or sterilise.
	It can be done anywhere, any time.
	It can be used to express small amounts of milk to relieve overfull breasts (for comfort) or to gently rub milk onto sore nipples.
	It involves skin to skin contact, which stimulates a greater milk production and helps to trigger a let-down reflex.

The following explains how to hand express breast milk. However, if you are finding the process difficult, ask your caregiver, or early childhood nurse to go through it with you, to make sure you are using the correct technique. (Be aware that not all women are able to hand express their breast milk, even when using the correct technique).

You will need to have a sterilised container to express your milk into. This may be a large bowl (that has been boiled in water), held between your knees, placed on your lap, or on a table at a comfortable height. Or it can be a sterilised plastic container.