Reverse Pressure Softening

RPS, or Reverse Pressure Softening, can help soften the areola when breasts are engorged, which will make it easier for baby to obtain a deep latch.

A deep latch is more comfortable for you and efficient for baby!

When milk volume increases a few days after delivery, many women become engorged. Rock hard breasts replace the soft, pliable "training breasts" that baby became accustomed to during the colostrum phase. Reverse pressure softening can help move fluid away from the nipple, to soften the areola. This should allow baby to grasp more tissue and latch deeply, which is more comfortable for mom, and allows baby to provide better areolar compression, which gets him more milk! The mechanics of RPS are very simple - using two two fingers, you gently put inward pressure at the base of your nipple, and if you like, you can slowly spread your fingers apart, pushing fluid away from your nipple and areola. The maneuver is ridiculously easy. Go to this link on kellymom.com to see how it's done.

You may want to use RPS in addition to manual expression, which removes a little bit of milk and can trigger a "let-down" of milk. This can also help soften the breast so that baby achieve a deep, comfortable, and effective latch.