Hand Expressing before birth

[k4mi]

Has anyone tried / done this before birth? I know it shouldn't be done before 37 weeks as there's a link to it starting labour but i'm wondering if it's a good way to get to grips with expressing some colostrum pre-birth and just get to know what it will feel like?

My boobs aren't leaking at all though and it's making me think maybe i won't have much milk...probably paranoid. I am 38+5

Why do you need to express before the birth? The milk does not keep unless you freeze it and I thought the whole point of baby getting the colostrum when its born is that it has so much goodness in it?

In my experience you will have plenty of time to try and get to grips with expressing once baby is here and if it doesn't work for you as the case may be then so be it.

I Never leaked with my first pregnancy, milk came in when DD was 2 days old and i could have fed twins so i don't think you need to worry about not having enough, you will make as much as your baby needs, i wouldn't bother expressing yet but you could try putting a bit of lanolin on them in advance, i found this made cracked nipples less of an issue.

I had no milk or colostrum in my breasts until birth. I bf ds for 2 years and dd is still ebf at 6 months. I honestly wouldn't worry.

I did, I was part of a study between expressing colostrum from 37 weeks and raising bf rates for babies of mums with diabetes. Often the babies are born with low blood sugars taken to scubu and given formula. I expressed and froze 2 mls at a time. It can be defrosted and used within 24 hours. It keeps in the freezer for 3 months.

I sat in a warm bath and massaged and squeezed the breast tissue. Expect to get small amounts at a time. I gave birth spontaneously at 39 weeks and therefore avoided induction on my due date, I think that was because expressing milk produces oxytocin.I had plenty of milk after DD was born and am still ebfing at 9 mo.

Look don't do it, purely because you are already paranoid! I couldn't express well at all and I fed my DD until she was 25months and at this stage your body hasn't got all the triggers to get your milk flowing, until your baby is here. If you weren't already worried, I would have said there is no harm in having a go and it certainly wouldn't harm your milk supply.
Nipple twiddling.etc is not a proven induction method, bear that in mind when worrying about 37 weeks yada yada.
Happy we now advocate expressing before birth for diabetics :)

i see no problem with having a go, im constantly messing with my boobs i find it fascinating (currently 23 wks preg). i expressed through my first pregnancy mainly because my boobs felt hot and itchy if i didnt and as a result when my dc1 came along i knew how my body worked best and had enough milk to feed the whole maternity ward! theres nothing wrong with exploring your new pregnancy body in my view :)

Not sure about this - and I am going to make a really ignorant comment.

I have worked with horses in the past and if a pregnant mare runs milk before hand (ie the colostrum runs through and white milk comes) then additional measures are taken to ensure the foal gets a supply of colostrum from a donor. Maybe however in humans we produce an additional supply of colostrum once our babies are born? I don't really know...

I never leaked during my first pg either and had a very plentiful supply of milk, once it came in.

To be honest, our bodies do a pretty good job without us meddling and I would try and trust your body as much as possible for now. Once you give birth you will see how truly amazing we are :)

re the not before 37 weeks thing, what would be the difference between hand expressing and tandem feeding a toddler?

Oh that's interesting.

I have no idea what I'm talking about on this thread anyway so will just lurk :)

Flying the production of mature milk is triggered by the delivery of the placenta and then that comes in roughly 3 days post birth. As such there isn't a finite supply of colostrum and you are not going to run out of colostrum if you express before birth, it in fact it might increase your supply for when the baby is here and as such is recommended that diabetic mothers express before birth.

I personally think that the not hand expressing before 37 weeks is bullshit. Many Mothers may be feeding a toddler as said before. Also if it was that easy to put a Mother into labour we wouldn't have lengthy inductions. I wouldn't advise it if there was a history of premature labour and possibly it could help if you are already on your way as it were...

It is also much harder to express/ have a letdown in pregnancy (and why some Mothers milk supply decreases) due to the hormones, progesterone in particular IIRC.

I was able to express colostrum at 12w first time round, and did so quite often because I found it rather amazing.

DD was born at 42+2 after induction.

It is thought that nipple/breast stimulation may help to trigger labour - like you say because of the increase of oxytocin - but only much later on and NICE recommend further research into it in their Induction of Labour guidelines. Orgasm also releases oxytocin, and you're not told not to do that before 37w because you might go into labour

if you are worried about technique and supply then it would be better to have a go now and get your head around it rather than wait until the baby is born and maybe having problems attaching it. don't expect to get out buckets full though. a few drops here and there is enough. a babies suck is much much more effective than expressing so don't worry about not having enough.

This is a good link for expressing technique a newborn baby's stomach capacity is about that of a teaspoon, just to reinforce how small an amount!

I have nothing to add in response to the original query, but am I being a total idiot to feel rather squeamish about hand-expressing? For some reason I find the idea of pumping far preferable because I don't have to knead my own breast tissue (which is quite sensitive). I plan to breastfeed (almost 30 weeks with first baby) and to machine pump when necessary - am I being stupidly wibbly, or are there other people who can't quite face hand-expressing?

You will have to touch your breast with pumping to and massage is a good way of encouraging a let down. I would perhaps try and talk to smeone about your feelings, if you feel that strongly.
However, it is not a prerequisite that you will need to pump, I returned to work when my DD was 9months and didn't have to express for her for that reason. I hope you feel differently once you have had your baby, I know my attitude changed a lot as I had felt quite squeamish about breastfeeding, right down to initiating the first feed. :)