Do breast compressions or massaging of the breast help increase milk transfer (directly breastfeeding + pumping)?

Breast compressions during breastfeeding causes nipple and breast tissue drag

I strongly recommend not massaging or compressing your breasts during breastfeeding because this creates breast tissue drag inside your baby's mouth. Breast compression or massage during breastfeeds disrupts fit and hold, and should in my view never be used because of the various problems that nipple and breast tissue drag causes.

There's no reason to massage or jiggle the breast before breastfeeding

There is no need to massage your breast, or to jiggle your breast, prior to breastfeeding. You might have heard that you should do this before you breastfeed in order to get the milk flowing, or to mix up the cream with the rest of the milk. None of this is true!

Jiggling and massaging your breast prior to feeding doesn't improve milk transfer or your baby’s caloric intake. It does however make the breastfeed that bit more complicated – and your baby might dial up, impatient with the delay. You can massage or jiggle your breasts before feeding if you want to, of course!

Gentle massage of your breasts might have a role with pumping but is not necessary

Gentle massage of your own breasts prior to pumping might help with the letdown. There may be a place for breast massage or compressions during pumping, although it’s important that this doesn’t cause nipple friction or discomfort, as it can be hard to both massage the breast and stabilise the pump flange over the nipple areolar complex at the same time.

Most women don’t worry about breast massage during pumping. The research shows that massaging your breast doesn’t ‘homogenise’ the fat in the milk, the way you might sometimes hear! You can find out about lipid production in your milk glands here.

There's evidence to show that massaging the breast with pumping using circular or oscillating movements increases the total amount of milk you'll remove over time if you have a prematurely born baby.

Selected references

Suna Dağ Y, Yayan EH. The Effect of Circular and Oscillating Breast Massage on the Amount of Breast Milk Produced: An Innovative Method. Breastfeed Med. 2022;17(7):593-598. doi:10.1089/bfm.2021.0071