Many different breast pumps are available to buy or hire. Find out why you may need one, what types there are and how to find a breast pump that suits you.

Expressing milk means squeezing milk out of your breast so that you can store it and feed it to your baby at a later time.

Expressing breast milk by hand is a cheap and convenient method.

There are a number of reasons why a breast feeding mother might wish to express milk rather than feeding the baby directly from the breast.

Breast milk has long been known as the ideal food for babies and infants. Major health organisations recommend that women breast feed their babies exclusively until they are 6 months old, and continue breast feeding, along with solids, until they are 12 months old or more. Breast milk has many benefits.

There are many reasons why mothers may want to express their breast milk

Some mothers have difficulty producing enough breast milk while others produce more milk than their own baby needs.

Breastfeeding mums can have breastmilk oversupply and breast engorgement. Check feeding patterns, techniques and positions. Hand-expressing can also help.

Many breastfeeding mothers will need to express their breastmilk at some time. Whatever your reason for expressing, it can be confusing working out the best way to express and what breast pump is best to use (if any). This article looks at the different types of breast pumps and which ones are suitable for different types of expressing.

Which breast pump is best for you?