To ask how TF to collect colostrum?!

[SimplyAmy1]

So, sorry for the TMI post.

I am 34 weeks pregnant and have been leaking a bit throughout the past few weeks. I have little stains in my bras and sometimes if I’m in the bath or just sat down, it drops out!
I spoke to the dr about it at an appointment and then they gave me some syringes (10 ml) when I asked her how I actually do it she told me to just ‘have a little play’ so anyway the other day I was in the bath and noticed it dripping, I grabbed a syringe and tried to catch it but it didn’t work 🤣 I literally had a little drop and it just dried in the syringe tip…. I really don’t know how to do this!

@SimplyAmy1 I can remember being SO proud for expressing 5mls of colostrum at the hospital, I literally took a photo for DH.

Fast forward a few months & id donated over 5l of breast milk to the milk donation team because I had so much!

It will come!

Like PPs I’m not sure I would bother… I BF my DCs but always thought that whatever I managed was a bonus. Perfectly healthy babies are raised without any BF all the time. My main reason for saying this is not to put yourself under any additional pressure whatsoever.

Absolutely try with a smaller syringe. I couldn’t manage to get anything with my first , but managed an ice cream tub full of syringes for my second. Take it slow and try not to stress if you get nothing, it took me a good few attempts to get going.
Was absolutely worth it for me, preemie babies in NICU who struggled to latch and wasn’t too well either, knowing I had some ‘I made earlier’ took the pressure off in those first 24hrs. I started filling syringes at 32 weeks under guidance from my midwife as we knew I was going to need to deliver early anyway.

It's easiest to do it with your partner. I used to squeeze and he used to get it into the syringe.

You need a tiny syringe op - also, take the plunger out and catch it in the bottom of the syringe rather than trying to collect it through the tiny nozzle at the other end (a lovely maternity nurse showed me how to do it the night my dd was born - she was in scbu for a week.

Keep your finger over the nozzle and it won’t fall out.

I harvested colostrum and it was a godsend. My baby was born prematurely and the syringes from the freezer bought me time/took the pressure off me getting going in hospital after an incredibly stressful few days.

Op: express into a small pot or onto a teaspoon. You need 1ml syringes to start with really. You can do it direct to the syringe but there's a knack, you need to be pulling the plunger to draw up the colostrum as a drop appears.

Instructions. Sit leaning forward so your breasts are falling forwards.
cup your breast with fingers underneath and thumb out towards arm pit.
Firmly push thumb towards nipple, stopping as you reach the areola.
Rotate your hand around/swap hands so that you've done that thumb action from every angle so you'll cover most ducts.

Dont overdo it. You aren't expecting to get loads, 1-2ml.

Maverick and Banani you could both be me in terms of experience

Ps yes not before 37 weeks unless advised.

(I was having an early c section for medical reasons and started harvesting 5 days before it once I knew it was definite).

I am not sure that it is important.
Far easier to express after birth if there is a problem.

Hi OP,

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it! In most cases there's no need to express colostrum whilst pregnant. In some cases where a baby is measuring really small or there's some indication that baby and mother would be separated straight after birth, it's recommended to express colostrum so this can be passed onto the baby.

In other cases such as if the baby is struggling to latch or anything along those lines, they help you express in the hospital to be able to feed this to the baby (this is what happened with me.)

However if you do want to express they definitely should have given you 1ml syringes! Barely anything comes out even once you've had the baby😂

I used this video to help to show how to express so I hope you find it helpful too

m.youtube.com/watch?v=WIrhDf-2d8w

I would also add that you may not get help in the hospital to express. When I was told to express a few hours after my first was born by section, I asked how and reminded her he was my first. The response I got was “with your hand” then she walked off! I probably wouldn’t have needed to express if she’d bothered to help me get him to latch though.

I would have never filled a whole 10ml syringe! I managed one 5ml, all the rest were 1ml ones and it took a few weeks to get that much each time. Just a few drops is normal at first. The closer you get to your due date that more that will come.

I think it's really useful as you know how to hand express when baby is here. La Leache League have some useful info on this.

I was gutted the hospital threw mine away! The one I'd expressed that that day couldn't be accepted as it hadn't been frozen. Then when baby was born and needed it the others were still frozen . It was a quick birth but still raging! I would have at least wanted the sryinges to go to a baby in neonatal if my baby couldn't have it, not the bin!

So my advice is to take just a few syringes to the hospital, your partner can always go home to get more if needed.