Breastfeeding and Pumping Resources

Providing breast milk to your baby is part of their medical treatment. There are a lot of benefits to breastfeeding/pumping for both you and your baby!

• Breast milk is much easier to digest for their immature gut
• Breast milk reduces baby’s risk of infection
• Pumping or breastfeeding helps some mothers lose weight after having a baby
• Pumping or breastfeeding reduces mom’s risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer
• Pumping or breastfeeding longer decreases rate of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in mom

Now that we know why breast milk and breastfeeding/pumping is so great, it is good to recognize that breastfeeding/pumping is not easy! Here are some external resources we recommend to help you be successful. Don’t hesitate to ask your medical team for help along the way.

*Note some recommendations for breastmilk storage that you may see online are different than our recommendations for your baby in the Lurie Children's NICU. This is because the babies admitted to the NICU may have a decreased immune system or other reasons that put them at greater risk. Therefore, we are more strict with milk storage than is needed for a baby at home)

Support Sites & Organizations

Kellymom – Evidence-based information on breastfeeding and parenting

Stanford Lactation Videos – Excellent videos about breastfeeding. The hand expression video is especially important in the early days before milk has fully come in

Breastfeeding for Working Mothers – Tips for pumping when returning to work but also a lot of good general information about breastfeeding

International Breastfeeding Centre – Dr. Jack Newman is a pediatrician who created excellent breastfeeding hand-outs that are downloadable and easy to read. There are also good videos showing good latching techniques. Check out the info and videos tab.

La Leche League – Organization devoted to supporting breastfeeding worldwide. There are lots of resources on this site.

Medela – A healthcare company that provides high quality and research based breastpumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world. In addition, their website offers education and support to breast feeding and pumping mothers.