Everything you need to know about Breast Pump Suction Strength

Breast pumps make the life of a mom easier. They help you focus on work and chores without compromising with the nutrition of your little angel.

But if you’re a new mom or if you’ve never used a breast pump, then it’s essential that you understand their suction strength and measurement.

Understanding these basics will help you find the right breast pump for your needs. It will also ensure that your experience remains comfortable and enjoyable.

And you don’t have to worry much, because this article will provide you with the necessary information about this subject:

How do you measure Breast Pump Suction?

The unit for measuring the suction strength of breast pumps is mmHg. It is called a millimeter of mercury (Hg is the chemical symbol for Mercury) and it is the manometric unit of pressure.

You’ll get to see the mmHg listing on every breast pump available in the market. Breast pumps tend to be in the 220-350 mmHg range, where 350 is the highest you’ll find in any breast pump.

In case you have any doubts regarding the suction strength of a breast pump, feel free to ask us your questions.

How do Breast Pumps Match a Baby’s Natural Sucking?

Modern breast pumps can imitate the sucking pattern of an infant. Thanks to the latest technologies, this imitation helps you, the mom, in generating sufficient milk and maintaining your milk supply.

These pumps imitate the baby’s sucking through different options:

•    Expression:

Babies don’t suck the milk continuously. They slow down in-between the sessions while they swallow the milk.

The ‘Expression’ mode imitates this sucking pattern. Basically, it imitates the pauses a baby takes between sucking the milk from your breast for swallowing.

•    Let Down:

When the baby sucks your breast continuously, it is called the let-down. When a baby sucks your breast, it starts the release of oxytocin. Oxytocin contracts the glands present in your breast to contract.

As those glands contract, they release milk into the milk ducts, which push the milk through the breast.    

•    Undulation:

This feature mirrors the moments of an infants’ tongue during the sucking session. Undulation tries to imitate the sucking pattern of older infants.

•    Flutter Sucking:

Some older infants follow a rhythmic sucking patent where they change the flow’s intensity and speed fast. This is termed as ‘flutter sucking’ and if your baby is older than a month, then it would be the right pattern for you to use.

For the maximum benefit, you should keep switching between the different settings. It will help you get multiple let-downs and as a result, you’ll find it easier to express milk.

How to Choose the Right Suction Speed

Now you know about the different suction settings, it’s is also vital for you to get accustomed with the suction speeds of the breast pumps.

 Knowing when you should use a particular setting will keep your pumping experience comfortable.

When to Choose High Strength:

You should keep your breast pump at a high strength setting when it’s going to replace direct breastfeeding. It could be because the baby isn’t able to latch properly or it could be because of your separation from the baby in the initial weeks.

While you’re trying to establish an adequate milk supply, you should use this setting. It ensures that your body receives the required signals to enhance your milk supply.

When to Choose Low Strength:

When you pump occasionally and breastfeed most of the time, it would be better if you keep the pace low or medium.

We recommend keeping the suction strength of the pump at 150 mmHg when you are pumping on a regular basis with established milk supply.

A Word of Caution:

High suction strength can reduce your milk supply too. Constant high-speed suction puts a lot of stress on your breasts and this can cut off the flow in the milk ducts.

How should you go about this issue? Simple, just turn down the suction speed whenever you feel any pain or discomfort. Pain changes your body’s focus from producing milk so your supply gets lowered.

And we don’t want that, do we?

Why is the Breast Pump not working for you?

Maybe you’re able to generate enough milk with the breast pump? Or maybe you’re experiencing some other problem with the pumps?

In any case, the cause of your problem could be the breast shield and not the pump itself. Maybe it doesn’t fit on your breast properly. For a proper solution to this problem, you should contact a lactation expert.

If the breast shield or the flange is not according to the size of your breast and nipple then it can cause you difficulty in expressingmilk. The flange should remain in proper contact with your nipple.

Conclusion

Although this article doesn’t discuss much, we hope it was able to help you get rid of any doubts or confusion regarding breast pumps’ suction speeds.

If you have any other questions regarding breast pumps, feel free to let us know.