Colostrum expressing

[Nobhobs]

I might sound a bit thick here, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and leaking a lot so decided to try and store some. My midwife gave me some sterile pots and syringes today, said to express into the pot then suck into the syringe, all fine.

Now I'm home I'm wondering if the colostrum leaks down my boob into the pot, is it then contaminated? I don't have filthy boobs they are regularly showered I'm just curious whether it's not meant to come into contact with anything other than the sterile pot/syringe?

No that's absolutely fine. If you are leaking a lot you can get breast shells that catch the milk

I agree it’s fine. You’ll never be able to keep it sterile. Just wash your hands well before you collect, and put the milk into the freezer ASAP, then the amount of bacteria will be negligible

I did mine straight away after I showered. I also didn’t bother with the pot- just sucked it straight into the syringe from the boob.

I would say...why bother??

Collecting the leaking stuff is a bit of faff for not much reward, manually expressing it means you'll just start producing more and more...no advisable this early I'd say.

If you producing it so early, you'll have no problem getting the baby to fed I'm sure - or if there is an issue, expressing a bit off into a syringe when they're here.

I was told to get my partner to help me with the catching of the milk, maybe that could stop it running too far down the breast? I can't get the hang of it though so I'm just hoping I won't have any need for the syringes

Thanks all, just had leaky boobs again and had a go and got 8 syringes! I did ask my midwife whether there was a point but she said there's no reason not to if I'm leaking so much. I'm just worried they'll accidentally pick up germs at some point in the process. Don't want to poison the baby

Ime pregnancy is tough enough without dealing with expressing for a baby that isn't here yet!! Bf all of mine even a prem baby without difficulty. No need to start now imo!

@Walkamileinmyshoesbeforeujudge the only time iv heard of it is when the MUM had gestational diabetes! They recommend it to bring in with you to give baby after birth to get their blood sugar level back up xx

I expressed colostrum before DS was born @Nobhobs. Don't worry about catching what leaks down, it'll be fine. Make sure to date and freeze it all.

It came in really handy if DS got poorly in the first 6 months as it is so good for them. I also told DP to bring it to the hospital in case I couldn't feed DS straight away, it was his one job and he bloody forgot it! And I had to have stitches in theatre so DS was fed formula rather than the colostrum I had expressed (just about over it now!). Anyway thought I'd mention that in case you wanted to bring some with you too.

I did this. Don't worry about any germs from your body so long as you are clean and you've washed your hands.

I had gestational diabetes and DS was quite poorly when born, he had all 28ml I had expressed in his few hours and they said it saved him from having to go into NICU, we were lucky enough to end up on the transitional care ward instead.

Well done you for doing it. It's hard work, but totally worth it x

Very useful if your baby has low blood sugar for any reason, not just in the case of GD - low blood sugar is something that can't be pre-empted but it does happen to quite a few babies (particularly those who are big / small). Also helpful if you can't feed them immediately for whatever reason ... so it's brilliant that you're doing it!

@Nobhobs how do you get so much milk? Im lucky to get 1 or 2 drops

@JamesonCask I've been leaking since 14 weeks. It started out a few drops but now it seems to pour out. It's painful they feel red hot and engorged already, that's mainly why my midwife suggested I start harvesting it just to relieve the pressure. Funnily enough I wasn't even planning on breastfeeding! I felt really uncomfortable about it at first and decided to formula feed. It's a good thing it happened in a way as it's sort of helped me get used to it and think I'll definitely give it a go as it's a waste not to. Painful though!

@Nobhobs you won't know how you feel about breastfeeding until you try it ☺️

It is recommended to colostrum harvest and a very good idea. Lots of reasons.. low blood sugars, reluctant feeders, mum unwell, baby poorly etc. My term baby ended up in NNU unexpectedly and demolished my 100ml of ebm very quickly.
It’s wonderful to have this extra. Good for you. Don’t worry about it dripping/contamination.. it will be fine 👍

Just as a suggestion (if you’re not doing it already) if you’ve got plenty, try expressing a little in the shower under the water to help the discomfort. I did this a lot when bf’ing as it helped pain and kept supply up when baby had an expressed bottle