Colostrum harvesting

[OrionNebula]

Hi I am due to have a c section on Monday 2nd. Second baby, first was vaginal birth, having section this time as baby is breech. The hospital gave me a kit of syringes to collect colostrum. Was just trying for ages and only got a tiny amount, not sure if that's normal.

Looking for tips - on technique, any time
of day it's best to do it, etc.

Hi I did this for my last two due to GD.

https://www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/colostrum-harvesting/
scroll to the bottom

I will try to find YouTube clips for you, sorry. Bf at the moment
they shouldn’t dish out syringes and not explain how to do it. I asked for syringes and looked up the info how to do it.

I will warn you you need the patience of a saint as it takes ages to get a ‘bead’ but as it starts flowing it gets easier, you don’t need a huge amount, I managed about 6-9 1ml syringes which were used.

also do not attempt before 37 weeks and do not use a pump unless you’re wanting to bring on labour but this did not happen for me despite using an electric pump ( I was due an induction so wanted to try bringing it on naturally) although I feel in the pregnancy before this I think it did bring it on despite not using a pump but it could all be a coincidence!

Best time (only time I had chance to) was late night when I was most relaxed, people women say in the bath is effective too. Main thing is you need to be relaxed.

Yes sorry for me it was tiny beads and took forever but other women get loads more.

I know this is an old fogey thing to say-but this just seems like something else to beat women over the head with- particularly as many women find expressing incredibly frustrating and difficult but then go on to bf successfully.

Tiny amounts is normal and all that’s needed. It’s one of the reasons why there’s no point using a pump.

There are videos on YouTube of people doing it with real breasts. I found these really helpful. Having never breastfeed I wouldn’t have guessed how far from my nipples I needed to apply the pressure.

Thanks everyone, all really helpful.

Good luck OP, just wanted to say - if you can, stick with it because every ml is extremely valuable!

Milk is slow to come in with sections, and babies cry out in hunger so much, the expressed colostrum is really helpful.

The first night I was so exhausted a midwife took baby to feed him expressed colostrum while I slept for a few hours.

I couldn't get anything with my first, CBA to try that hard though. Second time I was still feeding a toddler and I could pump it out easily. Bother times milk came in on day 2/3 and the first baby actually gained weight where the second lost it (blame it on him sleeping a lot, still takes huge naps as a toddler!)

I tried (pretty unsuccessfully) with my first. I tried again this time round and to my amazement I was actually getting somewhere with it. It did take a lot longer than they say though. I think the 10/15 minute thing is more once it’s established and it’s easier to get it out but I was there an hour at times at first. I really turned a corner when I started to use the little sterile cups instead of expressing a drop and having to collect it immediately in the syringe. This involved stopping, removing my fingers from the position they’d been in that had actually been getting somewhere so it slowed the whole thing down. Once I started using the little cup to collect it in then syringe up from there I was able to get multiple 1ml syringes per time. I just pushed that tightly under my nipple so none would escape and kept one hand on the whole time. One tip I read online was to do the pulling back/squeezing for longer than you think you should. So closer to 5-10 seconds instead of just one second and release. I also found a shower or bath helped and lots of people say a hot water bottle helps

@dearcleo thank you that's all helpful. I will try the technique you describe but to be honest I am trying for an hour or so at the moment only to get a few drops. I think I started too late to get into a routine & get a a good technique established, I only started this week and the section is on Monday.

Hi,
I’m now 37 weeks pregnant and have been attempting to collect some colostrum the past 3 nights and i haven’t collected anything… which feels a little disheartening.
I’ve done the whole C shape but my pair are on the larger size and are really heavy and i find it hard to do.
I will preserve with it but did anyone else experience this and then finally manage to collect some colostrum?
thanks in advance 😊

@P2023 first time round this was fully my experience and I just sort of lost confidence and gave up trying. I think if you persevere and dedicate the time to it it will hopefully work though. Second time round I was more confident at what I was trying to do and once I got going I started to believe I could actually do it then it got a lot easier. In hindsight id have given the syringes a miss for directly collecting and just got a sterile tub from the start. Put it under your nipple clamped against your skin as some will run down there and get away without you seeing it. Try to angle your nipple down slightly to help too. The good thing about the cup is you don’t have to stop after each successful ‘squeeze’ 🤣 You can keep your fingers in the same place if it’s working and just keep going then move round once you’ve emptied that part. I’d say I was spending about half an hour at least sitting in the bath doing it, sometimes I even went for a shower before the bath to help a bit. Just follow a video and keep going, keep repeating the same thing and if it’s not working after a while try it a different way. I think everyone’s must be different as to whether you need to squeeze in/back/sideways etc. Good luck with it and if you don’t manage just remember it’s not the end of the world and you’ll be fine anyway once baby is here