Midwife says begin expressing at 37 weeks....???

[theaveragebear1983]

saw my midwife today at 30 weeks and she says I should ask at the GD clinic for a kit to express milk so I can begin at 37 weeks, or earlier if possible. Really???!!! This is my 3rd baby and I've never been aware of this advice before, although apparently it's not new advice. When I had my DS 3 years ago before my csection the midwife brutally squeezed a few drops of colostrom from me for the baby to have after delivery as I would be unable to feed him instantly and I can't say it was the most pleasant of experiences. Has anyone else been told this or have you Done it?

I did this for both of mine, it was such a help when DS was born as his sugars were low and it took 3 days to stabilise him. We used the expressed milk to top him up which meant we didn't need to use formula at all. I started by only getting 1ml out a day, I expressed at the same time every day and by the end of it was getting 5ml+ at a time. They don't need much at the beginning but it was a huge help.

I didn't as no one mentioned it to me (I also had gd) but I could have as I produced colostrum from about 32 weeks. tbh I hate expressing but probably would have done it a bit before ds luckily he fed well from birth (greedy) so all was good.

I didn't think I produced any colostrum prebirth with DD but found it very easy to express from 37 weeks with DS.

But... ds was mildly hypoglycaemic and the paeds consultant who saw him (the midwife called him down because I was being "difficult" about formula) completely dismissed the colostrum i'd expressed and basically coerced me into formula top ups by suggesting the alternative was SCBU and a glucose drip. I was gutted because he'd latched like a dream and feeding was actually ok right from the start. The consultant said I could give colostrum as well as the formula top ups. So I'm not sure I'd bother if I fall pregnant again.

One thing I would recommend if your babies blood sugars are low is a "hot cot". A midwife suggested it on the postnatal ward to stop him burning too much energy staying warm.

I suppose you could.....not heard this.

I think that kind of stimulation can help to trigger labour though

Do in the bath or in the shower; so much easier when you are warm. It's good prep.

I only heard about this after I had my DS. I wish I knew about it before as it would've helped stabilise his sugars after he was born. It's good advice.

I have GD and have heard about this. Do you just do it manually?

And can you not breastfeed straight after delivery if you have GD?

There was quite a bit of research about this a few years ago and it should be recommended to mothers with gd. Freeze the milk and then have it available when baby is born and it can be syringed if needed. It is more energy dense than formula so a little goes a long way compared to formula. I would also have lots of skin to skin to keep baby warm and encourage regular breast feeds x

And yes you can breastfeed straight away with gd, it's just that if your sugars were high during pregnancy, the baby makes extra insulin which takes a few days to get back to normal. Thus when baby is feeding, the extra insulin can cause low blood sugars so it is useful to have the milk just in case.

I couldn't BF straight away with my DS as I had a general anaesthetic, so the MW used a syringe and expressed a few ml which they then gave to my son after he was born. This time it's more a case of do it a few times a day and freeze a few ml each time which can be given as a top up after breastfeeding (I think?) ....but I'm confused about the logistics of this as I'm having an elcs so how will I get the milk into hospital and stored and defrosted etc....I was very surprised when she Said it as I have never heard of it before, plus I remember it being quite painful to do.

You'd need to be expressing for three hours a day for it to promote going into labour.

My midwife has suggested expressing and freezing before delivery as I struggled with supply last time. I'm going to give it a go, can't hurt!

The hospital had freezers on the wards where I was. I took the milk in with some ice blocks in one of those little thermal picnic bags and told them I had it with me. They labelled it and put it in the freezer for me for after labour. Once they had tested his bloods they defrosted a bit every feed and gave him a bit extra. It really helped with getting him stabilised, I also did a lot of skin to skin over those 3 days as he kept his temperature better like that.

I expressed from 36/40 once or twice a day... I had colostrum from 20/40. I expressed into syringes and had 100ml by the time he was born. This was great as he was very ill in neonatal unit and I had lost a lot of blood and had sepsis, so didn't produce much initially. This meant he had no formula until I had to stop breastfeeding at 3weeks.

I advise all women to do it.

If you express into syringes, do you just store the syringes in the freezer or have to store it in pots? I had problems feeding last time and was planning to mix feed, so any extra colostrum I can give would be great, just don't know anything about how to store and warm up expressed milk?

You can freeze the syringes. Better if they have caps so they don't leak when defrosted or put them back into their packets.

Yes freeze the syringes. I put mine in a Tupperware box with lids on each syringe. When you need them, take them out of freezer to defrost. If you want to warm it slightly, pop the syringe in a cup of hot water