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.

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

Some treatments for breast cancer can affect your fertility (your ability to have children). [accordion] Effects of breast cancer treatments on fertility Once your cancer treatment has finished there is no reliable test to find out if you can still become pregnant. If your periods stop for a year or more, it’s more likely that your menopause will be permanent. If your

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.

If you're a breastfeeding mum with excess breast milk, talk to us at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. See how you can make a difference with donated breast milk at our milk bank.

If you’ve had a premature baby, check with your doctor if donated breast milk is an option. See how we can help.