Extremely premature thread about possibly stockpiling EBM for a premature/sick baby - 3yo still BF a bit

[mrsgboring]

I've been breastfeeding DS for 3 years and never got on with breastpumps ever before. DS rarely asks for milk in the day, but still feeds at night. I had been trying to wean him off night feeds, but today at my 20 week scan, I've discovered our baby has a lung abnormality which may result in baby being delivered early and possibly having lung problems.

It's too early to know how this is going to turn out for my new baby, but assuming s/he is born alive, should I try to create a stash of EBM in readiness? If so, would it help significantly to get the EBM if DS was either still feeding or weaned?

I had supply issues with DS and had a double pump from the HVs. I own an Avent single electric pump. I've never got more than an oz out ever ever ever, though DS was feeding all that time and may have been taking everything?? I expressed at least once a day for the first 3-4 months (after every feed in the early days of DS losing lots of weight)

How long can I stockpile EBM for, and are there any additional considerations for a premmie in SCBU that I should take into account?

Hiya mrsgboring firstly I wanna say I hope all goes well with DC2.
In regard to your EBM question I would get in touch with your local milk bank and ask the question.
I have a 12 week old whom I am exclusively BF and I'm supplying the milk bank with EBM and I know they do not want anymore milk from me once DC hits 6 months.
Not sure why, could milk be too mature for a prem baby?

I think you can keep bm frozen for up to three months in a fridge/freezer.

hi mrsgboring milk can be frozen for up to six months obviously breast milk continuously changes throughout the time you breast feed but it always contains colostrum and your imunities in my experience as a breastfeeding helper for the bfn breastmilk in whatever stage of lacktation be it three months or three yers is much superiour than any formular and can save the lives of premature babies so stock piling for your little one sounds fantastic prem babies are only going to be taking very small amounts at a time so not getting lot out at any one time is not an issue dont worry, also you can add to already expressed milk throughout a 24hr time span. fingers crossed you dont have to use this advice but if you do i haoe it helps good luck and best wishes, also there are milk banks within the uk if you were interesed in looking into that route.

I wouldn't worry at all about your milk being too mature. Prems who receive donor milk can receive milk from far older babies. Milk banks often want you to have started donating before your baby is 6 months but many are happy for you to go beyond that point. The UK milk banking association states it is happy for women to carry on for as long as they wish. I'm guessing the pp is donating to a local milk bank with their own requirement?
But the crucial issue here is that at 20 weeks pregnant you are now beginning to have a different composition to your milk. You will now be making colostrum. It usually happens around the 4th month and obviously the later in your pregnancy - the more colostrum.
www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/16milkchanges.html
The age of your nursling isn't relevant because your hormones are resetting the milk production process.
I think the only concern might be a lot of pumping stimulating your uterus (which isn't common but can happen) so I would pay careful attention to that.

It would probably be easier to get the milk if your DS was still feeding. But if you really wanted to wean I don't think this should stop you. I would suggest pumping at a set time of day and keeping length of time of pumping short and keep quantities small. Store using breastmilk freezer bags and store them flat so you can get a lot of bags in a small space. If a prem uses milk you'll do best defrosting small quantities as and when they are needed.
Pregnancy obviously reduces quantities of milk for most mothers so you may find pumping output really is pretty teeny. But even 2mls will add up. You may need to use a syringe to collect it from the bottle and move it to a storage bag because quantities will be so small.

Chest freezers are the best option for storage as temperatures stay lower (over 6 months is not uncommon). Cool each bag in a fridge before freezing next to the others. If you ever need to use it - start with the more recent and work back. Rather than start with the oldest. Once baby is born you can get on with FULL ON pumping and ideally you may find that very little frozen milk is actually needed. You really want to be stimulating your supply as best you can at that point and only use stored milk if you need to.

Previous lack of pumping success may have been you not getting a letdown. Use wet warmth. Even have a warm bath/ shower just before.

I would suggest you phone local SCBUs and find out now their policies and chat to someone about your intentions. Get something in writing if that would help you.
You may find the book 'Breastfeeding special care babies' by Sandra Lang helpful.

Really hope everything works out for you and all the preparation ends up being needed less than you imagined.

Thank you all for this; it's very helpful. SamJam, that is definitely true about the letdown - I hated the pump and was nervous about my supply, so if I even looked at the pump or wondered how much milk was coming out or thought about the process at all, the milk completely dried up. It was marginally better in the bath with a manual pump, but the same thing applied - as soon as I thought "Ooo goody,this looks like it's working" it would all stop. Hey ho, we can but try.

Treadmillmom, our milk bank won't take DBM after 6 months of age either. I wonder if this is partly to stop mums from donating ancient milk from their freezers by mistake.

I think this is something I can raise with the paeds and specialist mw next time I see them, so thank you all for this thread, it's focused my mind.

AFAIK, Milk banks do not recruit mums who have babies older than 6 months. Once you are donating, you can donate as long as you can.

Yes the BM of a baby who is 6 mos old differs from that of say a 12 wk old but EBM is always preferable for any baby, preemie or not over a human milk substitute.

Maybe I am wrong as I have never donated - no milk bank in the North or Northeast. grr.

What you can do is to collect colostrum. here is how to do it.

A tiny preemie needs less than an 5ml a day so you don't have to collect volumes. By the time you have your baby, you can collect more as and when.

When your baby gets here, if early, contact a breastfeeding charity, so they cna give you the fine points on expressing and pump hire/buy.