NBC NEWS — New mothers who have difficulty breastfeeding may need a hand of their own.

A study of 68 moms suggests manual breast milk pumping may be a good alternative if a breast pump isn't available. The study compared breastfeeding rates between moms who started off using a pump and those who were trained to manually express milk.

After two months, 97% of mothers who did the manual pumping were still nursing, compared to 73% of moms who used the pump.