What is a Breast Pump Flange?
The flange is the part of the breast pump that, when placed over the breast and nipple, makes contact with your body and creates a vacuum seal with the areola, where the flange draws your nipple into the channel of the pump where the milk is extracted.
The proper flange size of a breast pump can greatly affect your breast comfort and milk output. Getting the correct nipple size is very important if you want to ensure that you get the most milk during pumping and remain comfortable during and afterwards.
Most pumps have a standard 24 mm flange, and the default flange size of Upslife is 28mm, and it also comes with 19mm/21mm/24mm inserts, so mom doesn't need to worry about the pain caused by the wrong size
Measurement
Use a nipple ruler or regular ruler to measure
Step 1: Stimulate your nipples to perk them up.
Step 2: Hold the ruler at a vertical angle, placing the 0 scale at the same level as the bottom of your nipple while the edge of the ruler meets your areola.
Step 3: Get the number of millimeters between the bottom of the nipple and the top of the nipple and the size measurement is complete.
Tips
1. Your left and right nipples may have different sizes, so measure them to get their exact size.
2. The size of your nipples may change when you start suckling. So it is recommended that you choose a flange size that is 1-3 mm larger than your nipple size, or you can measure the exact size after suckling.
4. Your breasts may change during late pregnancy and after delivery. In addition, your breasts may change during your pumping sessions, so it is important to check your flange size regularly.
5. If you measured your nipples before you started pumping or before you had your baby, you will need to increase the nipple diameter measurement you found by 1-3 mm to select the correct flange size. This will allow for the amount of swelling that occurs during the pumping process.
Need more help? Please feel free to send an email to support@upslife.com