Once baby is latching on well, the next most important strategy is to maximize breast drainage so that the signal to the breast to make more milk is amplified. One of the difficulties of low milk production is that the milk ejection reflex (let-down) is often less effective when it has less volume to work with. Thus, milk may not be completely drained by the baby or a pump. An easy and effective way to maximize removal of milk is to massage the breasts, both before and during feeding (or pumping). One study looked at the effect of simultaneous massage with pumping and found that there was 40 to 50 percent more milk removed when pumping with massage than without it. This is a simple and very effective way to increase breast drainage.(1)
