Pumping & Expressing Breast Milk for Your Premature Baby

Breast milk offers the best possible nutrition for babies. It is especially good for babies born prematurely. Providing breastmilk to preemies can be lifesaving.

If your baby was born preterm, they may need to spend time in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). If that's the case, you can still provide them all the health benefits of breast milk by pumping or expressing your milk.

Watch these videos with tips for any parent interested in pumping, but especially NICU families who depend solely on pumping to provide their baby breast milk.

Learn more about the many benefits of breast milk and pumping. In this video, below, families share how they provided breast milk to their preemie in the NICU!

In this video, a lactation expert sits down with NICU moms Ellenie and Jasmine to discuss pumping challenges, tips for painless pumping and ways to boost breast milk production.

Play this video to hear about different types of breast pumps. NICU mom Marcella also shows how to set up a hospital-grade electric pump.

In this video, NICU dad Terence shares step-by-step guidance on the best ways to clean and sanitize your breast pump parts.

NICU dad Tibeau explains breast milk storage guidelines and helpful tips for refrigerating, freezing and thawing your "liquid gold" for your baby.

Providing Breast Milk for Premature and Ill Newborns

How Should I Feed My Premature Baby?

Why Breastfeed: Benefits for You & Your Baby

Breast Milk for Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Babies

Editor's note: To view these videos in various other languages, including Vietnamese and Arabic, you can visit Express Yourself New Orleans.