You'd be surprised
Actually it is quite simple, let them do it when they want (rather than sticking to a schedule, at least in the early days) and you can't go far wrong. The more they suckle the more milk you will produce, etc etc. But sometimes you get problems with latching & position which means that the mum's nipples get sore, and the bits which send the message to the brain to produce more milk don't get stimulated in the right way, so you end up with less milk which means the baby is hungry and even less likely to latch right and it all becomes a bit of a mess.
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Tue 1 Jun 2010, 22:18, 1 reply)

Somebody needs to do this
As my (Wifes) experience wasn't great, and with all ranting mantra in the NHS about tit chomping, but little practical support. She ended up feeling rather pissed off about it.

Fun bit about when Master barking was born, he refused point blank to suck at the tap, however, latched readily at a bottle. Cue the delightful practice of "Expressing". Also cue the Milli-tant fuming of certain so called professionals. "You can't do that, he should be breast feeding" to which LB pointed out that she was, by proxy, and if they didn't like it they could, and I quote "Get to Fuck"

I got the same reply when I suggested that a more efficient way of expressing was to use a Dyson, rather than a hand operated pump...
(Sir Tainley Barking Ezekiel 23:20, Tue 1 Jun 2010, 22:51, closed)

You can actually get some rather excellent sci fi type electric pumps, but they can make you feel a bit like a dairy cow...
But yes, all that aside, I get quite annoyed at the attitude of some HCPs. Why judgement and not support? I'm guessing it's about targets, so they can tick the little box which says "discussed breastfeeding" and say that the baby was breastfed at birth. The stats say it all - the most recent ones from 2005: 78% of women want to breastfeed. By 7 days only 35% of babies are fully breastfed. Six weeks, 21%. By 4 months, (the absolute earliest age recommended to introduce solid food), it's only 5%.

If you want any kind of decent breastfeeding support the best thing to do is seek out one of the voluntary organisations - La Leche League, NCT, etc, or sure start can be good.

Well done to your wife, BTW - I take my hat off to anyone who manages to express for any length of time, it's bloody hard work.
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Tue 1 Jun 2010, 23:12, closed)