Anyone harvested colostrum before? Please advise

[Avonacha]

Hi all
I had breast milk supply issues with my now toddler and we had her tongue tie fixed, latch checked by an IBCLC etc. I'm now pregnant again and really want breastfeeding to be a lot smoother. I read somewhere that colostrum harvesting can help with supply after giving birth and wanted to know if anyone can confirm this?

Hi op, no advice but following your thread as i had previous issues breastfeeding.
I didn't even know harvesting colostrum was a thing until i saw a lady do it!

I would approach La Leche League or similar to ask their advice if I was thinking of this.

Try not to get yourself into the mindset that it will be difficult this time, there is no reason your first experience and second experience will be the same, especially throwing tongue tie into the mix first time round.

I'm not sure it helped with supply but I did harvest some. I needed it as well as my baby was exhausted from labour and didn't latch right away - the midwives were happy to leave knowing that she'd get some colostrum from the freezer regularly! I started at 36 weeks and just had a few ml in each syringe. It took ages to get - I think I'd do it again though!

I’m not sure it has much of a bearing on your supply but it will help you have a little store of colostrum if you have any difficulties in the first few days. It’s advised from 36-37 weeks :)

I don’t know if it helps supply, but I found it quite easy to do and it was very reassuring to see I had plenty before birth. The midwife gave me syringes to keep it in and I went in to hospital with a stash frozen and ready for baby. They were concerned about his health when he was born so it was good to know we had a supply for him if he needed it.

I had difficulties feeding first child . Harvested colostrum from 38 weeks. Baby arrived at 39 weeks. Feeding going much better this time around

No idea if it can help with supply, but I harvested colostrum with my first baby and it was very useful to have as he had prolonged jaundice so would often fall asleep at the breast and not get enough milk (so having the colostrum top up syringes ready to go were amazing).

A practical tip is to hand express the colostrum into a sterilised shot glass or similar, then suck up the colostrum with the syringe (instead of trying to squeeze and catch it with the syringe at the same time - I found that impossible!). And if you're having trouble hand expressing in general, try practicing with no pressure in the shower to get yourself used to where to press etc without the stress of also trying to catch it.

If you can afford to, it might be worth having a chat with an IBCLC antenatally to talk through practical things you can do and to have a quick and easy point of contact if things aren't going as you hope. An IBCLC local to me ran free antenatal drop ins (pre pandemic) for pregnant women to come and chat about BF, and it was nice to instantly know who to contact when I needed more support - which I suppose is great for her business, but it made all the difference to me to not having to contact a stranger when I was feeling so vulnerable.

I don't think it helps with supply and you should speak to your midwife for advice. In the meantime, there's some good advice here: www.feeduk.org/colostrum-harvesting

I had low supply with my first. We combo fed.

2nd baby is 11 weeks old. Harvested 36ml colostrum. Still have low supply! But perhaps a little better. However, one thing I'm almost sure it did help with was my milk came in quickly - day 2. Weight loss early was minimal due to this even with early severe jaundice. The low supply didn't become apparent until day 9 when the weight went lower than days 3/5. With my first low supply was an issue from day 2.

I'm so glad I did it and it gave me a lovely sense of accomplishment, plus was really useful due to the jaundice.