How do I prepare for pumping at hospital?

Question

Im a first time mom and preparing to pack my hospital bag soon. 
I’m a bit confused about how to prepare for breastfeeding /pumping at the hospital after labor and delivery. 
I’ve seen some moms pack their electric pumps.
I’ve seen moms pack just the manual Haka to attach to the other breast while baby feeds on the other side. 
I’ve also seen other moms bring colostrum already pre pumped before they went into labor. 
Do I need to pack an insulated lunch bag with ice packs in it if I plan to pump and take milk home from the hospital ? I feel like the milk will surely spoil especially having to stay overnight and seeing that the ice packs would melt . 
Do hospitals even help you with that or provide ice packs for that so milk doesn’t spoil? 
I haven’t really heard anyone really talk about it this part after delivery. 
Some say not to pump right away and just wait till baby comes out for first feeding to avoid mastitis ,some pump right away after delivery, and some pump the week before 40 weeks with dr approval.
Help please!! Let me know your experiences.

Answer

Okay I'm just going to say you'll not need to pump in the hospital unless you'll have an extended stay due to baby being placed in NICU or something. Usually you're not there fore more than 1 or 2 nights with a vaginal birth. During the first couple of days you really need to just keep baby on your breast to get colostrum and help your baby learn to latch. Definitely bring your pump in case of emergency but you don't need to worry about stashing milk. I actually would recommend a manual pump to bring to the hospital rather than electric. If you have to pump for some reason you will only be pumping a little colostrum and baby can drink it right away.
Your milk won't actually come in for a couple of days so full on pumping isn't going to happen in a regular delivery hospital stay and even when you get home and your milk comes in there is no need to pump if you don't plan on being away from baby. Just keep baby to your breast to regulate your supply. Pumping too soon if you plan on just nursing can definitely give you an oversupply.
I suggest picking up a simple manual pump like this so that if baby for example has a lip tie and isn't latching well and really needs some colostrum in the hospital you can express it all and pop on the nipple and let baby easily eat rather than struggle with nursing and having to give the formula that the hospital will offer. Sometimes latching takes a few days for baby to figure out and a manual pump is best in my opinion for a newborn situation. Much faster, much easier and you can pump just what baby needs and let them drink it straight away rather than a whole double sided pump season that leaves you with needing to store some milk in the fridge.

Answer

You shouldn’t need your pump unless you plan to exclusively pump and want to get acquainted with your pump. If exclusively pumping, it is still best to use a hospital grade first for as long as possible. The hospital will provide a pump if this is the case.
If you don’t plan on exclusively pumping, you’ll just need to latch latch latch. Having babe on the breast as much as possible is ideal. This encourages babe to get all that colostrum, your mature milk to come in, and for babe to practice eating! Pumping should be avoided in the first 6 weeks unless away from babe.
If your baby happens to need nicu time and can’t latch, they will provide a pump. The colostrum and milk you pump while in the hospital (typically only 1-3 days), will go to a milk room. All your milk will be labeled and kept appropriately cold. They will give you any unused milk to take home with you once babe is released. 
I’m a nicu mom (35 weeker and 27 weeker) and I’ve never brought my own pump. I actually ended up renting the hospital pump for 2 weeks for my 27 weeker.

Answer

I suggest you ask at L& D of the hospital you are planning on delivering at what services are available. In the hospitals I delivered, every mum received automatically a lactation consultation (unless she chose not to breastfeed) and a hospital-grade breastpump was provided on site and also to take home for rent (covered by insurance). All supplies such as little bottles, nipples and things to wash the equipment was also provided, so I needed to bring nothing. Also my insurance would have covered a Medela pump (still have a new one from first baby that I didn’t need because I used the hospital grade one). Please inquire with your insurance/hospital/dr/midwife. Best of luck!

Answer

You don’t need to pump if you’re nursing. Pumps aren’t great at getting colostrum either because it’s so thick. If you end up needing to pump the hospital has super fancy pumps and all the stuff you need. I exclusively pumped from 3 days old because we had issues with nursing and they kept my extra milk in the NICU fridge, but having leftover milk in the early days is not really a common unless your baby is tiny and in the NICU. My husband went home and got my bottle bag and the nurses gave me ice to take my milk home when we left.

Answer

Don’t bring the pump, you only need it if baby is in nicu and can’t feed. If that happens, more than likely the hospital will have a pump for you to use. They will also store your milk that you have pumped 
I would only bring a breastfeeding pillow. Your basic care needs, and baby’s needs.

Answer

You don’t need a pump if you’re nursing. The hospital has pumps as well. The only time I’ve used my pump is for when I’m engorged and need some sort of relief, but the doctor said no longer than 5-10 minutes to avoid oversupply. I like to have some sort of freezer stash for if i have to go somewhere and baby stays with dad, but that’s only been one time in the last month. My baby even had a NICU stay for her jaundice and they let me breastfeed her throughout the night/morning as long as i didn’t keep her out of the light for more than 30 minutes.

Answer

My baby was in the nicu and they gave me a pump to use and all the supplies and stored my milk for me while I was there

How do I prepare for pumping at hospital?

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