Colostrum harvesting - too much?

[Thistledew]

I am currently 40+1 and decided to have a go at colostrum harvesting. I only started when I was 39+3, so have been going a short while, but am now up to the situation where I am expressing nearly 5ml twice a day (just in the recommended 20 min session).

Is there any risk in producing too much or overstimulating production?

That's interesting! What are you doing it for? I'm not planning to BF so I think I might do this prior to birth so baby gets some colostrum. Are you expressing by hand or with a machine?

It was recommended to us by our NCT leader for a few reasons:

It is mostly so that if you or your baby is poorly after delivery and not able to feed, you can defrost some stored colostrum and give it to them. It's also a good way to get used to expressing before birth, so that if you need to for any reason you will be familiar with how to do so. It really needs to be done by hand as most women only manage to harvest just a few ml in total so using a pump is not practicable, and also it is thicker than mature milk so doesn't pump well.

The recommendation is not to start before you are 37 weeks, and to keep what you have expressed in syringes in the freezer. You can keep it for up to 6 months this way, so even if it is not needed after birth, you could give your baby some later on if they get ill.

I think most hospitals now have an 'Infant Feeding Team' who will teach you how to do it and provide you with some syringes.