Massaging the outer breast Make sure your hands are clean. Cup your breast in both hands with the fingers underneath and the thumbs above. Squeeze the outer part of your breast gently and firmly between your fingers and thumbs. Repeat this ten times, moving around the breast as you do so.

Massaging the inner breast Move your hands closer to the areola and repeat the squeezing procedure as above.

Starting the flow Place the thumb and fingers of one hand near the areola, press them back into your ribs, then squeeze gently and rhythmically. If the milk doesn’t begin to flow immediately, keep trying.

Emptying the breast Continue for about five minutes, working around the areola, then move on to the second breast. Repeat the whole procedure for both breasts.

Milk can be expressed from your breasts using either your hands or a breast pump, which may be manual or electric. Although small battery pumps are very easy to use many women find hand expressing to be easier and more convenient. Before you start, you will need a bowl, a funnel, and a container that can be sealed. All equipment must be very clean.

In the first six weeks, hand expressing is nearly always a bit difficult, as the breasts have not reached full production, but don’t give up. Because breasts produce milk in response to demand, you may need to express milk in order to keep your supply going – if your baby does not suck well at first, or is premature and can’t yet breastfeed, for example. Even if you use a pump, it is worth learning the technique of hand expressing in case you need it. The best time to express milk is in the morning, when you’ll have the most milk, although when your baby drops the night feeding you may find the evening the best time.