Supporting Breastfeeding by Studying How Breast Milk Is Expressed

Japan

Even as other countries moving closer to Nordic-style gender equality, the women of Japan remain relatively underrepresented in public life. In fact, Japan ranks lowest of all the G7 countries for gender equality. This situation has many causes, but one that has been raised is inadequate support for mothers seeking to combine parenting with work outside the home.

 

Pigeon believes that support for combining work and parenthood should go beyond simply establishing systems for parents in the workplace. It should also support for mothers who want to continue raising their babies on breast milk even after their return to work.

Why Research Breast Milk Ejection?

When a mother returns to work and it becomes difficult for her to breastfeed her baby directly, she can still maintain milk production and continue feeding her baby breast milk by pumping.

 

Pigeon researches the mechanism of breast milk ejection to obtain insights that can be used in breast pump product development and provided to mothers seeking breastfeeding-related information.

What Kind of Research Does Pigeon Do?

Breast massage by midwives and the use of breast pumps are both forms of breast care for breastfeeding mothers. Breast massage squeezes breast milk out via pressure from the midwife’s fingers, while pumping draws the milk out with suction. As a first step to studying and elucidating the mechanism of breast milk ejection, Pigeon researched the mechanical effects of both breast massage and pumping.  

Research and Awards

Pigeon’s research findings were the first to elucidate the mechanical effects over the entire breast of both breast massage administered by a midwife and breast pumping. Their paper was published in the Journal of Nursing Science and Engineering and received the Society of Nursing Science and Engineering’s 2024 Encouragement Award.

 

Pigeon will continue working to support parenting alongside work by standing alongside mothers who seek to continue to breastfeed their babies.

 

Related Links

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