Colostrum Harvesting

[Ksmalls]

Hi ladies,

I am 37 weeks pregnant and have been harvesting colostrum daily for just over a week. As expected the first day was a tiny amount but now I am managing up to 6ml per session. As I don’t have a huge supply of syringes with caps I’ve started to hand express once every other day.
I just wanted to ask anyone who might know... should I continue like this until due date and keep storing and freezing or is there a point when to stop or could be too much?
Thanks in advance :)

[sunlighthouse]

I'm also 37 weeks and just started doing this as had quite a few feeding issues in the early days last time.

I'm seriously impressed at the amount you are getting though OP and others! I've only managed 1ml on a good day. @lovesT I found I got most in the bath or just after a shower. But would love to be getting more!

[Pinkflipflop85]

You only need tiny amounts. Babys stomach is the size of a marble when born. 5ml syringes are all you need.

If you try and express it at a similar time each day your body will get used to it and start producing more.

[lovesT]

Hello 👋 , I am nearly 37 weeks pregnant and my midwife gave me the syringes at my last appointment (at 36 weeks) to try collecting some. I didn't think I would get anything first try but I did get a drop from my right boob first time and have been able to get a few drops since, but really tiny bits! My left hasn't given anything and actually bled a bit 🙁 just a tiny tiny drop of blood but had happened three times since I tried it and no colostrum from left boob.

I would like to syringe the colostrum but it's such a tiny amount at the moment that it doesn't seem worth it! How long did it take anyone to get an amount worth saving? Any advice? Thank you 😊

[catlady3]

My midwife gave me some receptacles to collect it from 37 weeks. She said it's to stimulate flow as well as having some reserves. Definitely good to keep it up based on that.

[Weathergirl1]

Agree with PPs that it takes the pressure off if there are issues. You should be able to get extra syringes from your midwife but if not they sell them on Amazon for about £6 for 10. I took 20 syringes with me and the midwives said they'd never seen anyone show up with that many. My doula thought it was great and we used them all in the first couple of days when DS wasn't latching properly (he had a tongue tie). I then carried in manually expressing before starting with a pump on day 3. I've not had any supply issues and I do wonder if that was due to all the expressing I did initially (by the last few days before my ELCS I was getting a syringe from each side each time - I got a bit competitive with myself).

Good luck OP 👍🏻

[Brysonette]

I did this and it was great. I got about 5ml a day. We had latch issues at the beginning and it really reduced my stress levels knowing ds was still getting some food. He also lost very little weight and was back to his birth weight at 5 days old by which point he was breastfeeding feeding fine.

[Ksmalls]

I'm So thankful for your comments. It's assured me to keep going as there is no real right or wrong and if it gets my body used to handling my boobies then it's just good practice I guess ;)

[Ratbagratty]

Keep going :) if you don't use it all straight after birth you may like to give some later (of still viable) to give yourself a rest. If you are running out of syringes, ring go and or midwife and find out if you can get more.

I tried expressing before mine but never got anything

[INeedNewShoes]

I think you may as well keep it up just to keep things ticking over.

How I wish I'd done this! My milk was slow to come in and DD was sleepy. If I'd had enough colostrum to give her we could have avoided the formula top-ups I felt forced into giving her by the midwives.

[PPopsicle]

Maybe speak to midwife or contact La Leche?
I’m in the rarity where my milk didn’t come in for a month, so it would’ve been great to have a huge supply as back up

[Ksmalls]

Thank you for all the comments. I agree the topic can have a mix of opinion. I went to a feeding workshop because I'm a first time mum and this was suggested to me as a good idea incase of complications with feeding immediately after birth. I decided that having some with me incase of such a situation would only be a positive.

Since I have already gathered enough to last the first days I'm just wondering weather to carry on to keep my body in the same routine and perhaps make breastfeeding a bit more natural. My concern was, if I stopped now would it be counter productive for my body. My concern wasn't really about collecting lots and lots of colostrum.

Thanks for the ladies who have given positive feedback :)

[Pinkflipflop85]

Ignore the comments from ignorant posters.

[Pinkflipflop85]

If you have more syringes then keep expressing and storing it. I took mine to hospital in an insulated cool bag.

I was so glad that I managed to harvest plenty of colostrum. I had an emergency c section and my dd was extremely unwell so went to scbu immediately whilst I was sent to HDU. I didn't see her for a long time but the nurses were able to give her colostrum thanks to all that I had harvested. It also meant that I was able to express more quite easily in the HDU because I was so used to doing it.

[DesLynamsMoustache]

Also to PP, you do realise not every baby latches on and feeds perfectly from birth, right? Of course you breastfeed and hopefully it works out that baby is getting enough. But fairly often baby can't latch, doesn't feed efficiently, drops weight very heavily, is jaundiced and too sleepy to feed well, so they require top-ups. My DD physically could not feed from the breast so we had to syringe and then cup feed.

If you already have a supply of colostrum then you aren't under as much pressure when trying to pump in those early days or don't have to top-up with formula.

[DesLynamsMoustache]

This has good information, including the benefits.

www.uhs.nhs.uk/Media/Controlleddocuments/Patientinformation/Pregnancyandbirth/Harvesting-colostrum-for-your-baby-maternity-information.pdf

[DesLynamsMoustache]

That's an amazing amount! I did some but wished I'd done more as DD wouldn't latch and we had to cup feed. Having a bigger supply at home would have taken some pressure off. The midwives in the hospital were delighted I'd been doing it as it I had a good supply to express from Day 1.

[PPopsicle]

@Horehound

It works for people like me, who never got any milk/colostrum for 4 weeks after I had my baby!

Next time around I will definitely harvest whilst pregnant

[FoxtrotSkarloey]

Definitely keep going. I ended up with a c section and DS wouldn't latch, so having the colostrum for him was amazing.

[Besidesthepoint]

I'm not sure what the point is? You're baby would get it by breastfeeding?

Not always. If for instance a type 1 diabetic has a baby, most hospitals will feed the baby formula the first time, regardless of any breadtfeeding plans. By having harvested colostrum beforehand you can make sure that they feed the baby colostrum.

[Horehound]

@Thistledew oh the same happened to me. But I expressed onto a teaspoon and he picked it up. Fresh from the boob. No need for reserves

[Horehound]

Yes I agree @AfterSchoolWorry
The whole thing is a natural process designed for the baby to access. It seems strange to express it before the baby arrives

[Thistledew]

I found it useful with DS1 - we had problems with him latching and feeding for the first 3 days as he was very sleepy and it was very useful to be able to give him a syringe full a few times to keep him going.

[AfterSchoolWorry]

*seed the microbiome of the baby..

[AfterSchoolWorry]

Horehound

I don't get it either. The point of colostrum is to set the microbiome of the baby. Freezing is surely going to kill any live good bacteria?

Fresh and natural has to be better than frozen.

[MrBobLobLaw]

Sounds like you're doing a great job OP. You probably have enough now though. I froze lots when pregnant with DS1, took some to the hospital in case I couldn't bf straight away. The rest I planned to use if DS got poorly. In reality it only lasts 6mos frozen and I probably only defrosted and fed DS about 3 or 4 syringes in that time.