Breastfeeding worries

[aliensprig]

I'm 33 weeks with my first and as yet no colostrum leakage. Just read a thread where a lady has started leaking at 26 weeks?! Fuck - am I doomed to formula feeding?? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I had my heart set on breastfeeding and now I'm really starting to worry that I won't be able to.

I have thyroid issues and am on sertraline, if anyone else is in a similar position I'd really appreciate some advice.

I had no colostrum leakage at all. Went on to feed my baby til she was over 2

Never had colostrum until after the birth of my two boys. Currently feeding DS2 (18m old) while looking at mumsnet.

I almost never leaked anything. 3 bf kids. I had stockpiled breast pads as everyone said you'd need them.....had to get rid of them after I finished feeding the kids. I'd used about 8....

Please don't stress. Do ask your mw if your medication is likely to impact your milk supply. They will know best.

Good luck.

No leakage on pregnancy here either, breastfeeding fine at four months.

Just learn from my stupidity and don't let this lull you into a false sense of security, when your milk comes in you will leak like mad, make sure you have breast pads already bought!

I had none during pregnancy either, and was like a dairy cow whilst I fed mine.

Also formula feeding is not 'doomed' anyway. It's a perfectly acceptable way in which to feed your baby!

I never leaked and am stopping breastfeeding now at 6 months. I've always produced a stupid amount of milk so I'm still wearing breast pads so don't worry!

Have your breasts changed in fullness while you’ve been pregnant? Leaking colostrum doesn’t indicate your future supply. I didn’t have leaking and ended up with a massive oversupply issue. What can help is breast massage from 37 weeks.

Also never leaked before or during bf.
I was advised to hand express colostrum while pg with Ds2 as I had gestational diabetes and it’s advisable to have a stash for the early days but I never could get so much as a drop. We’re now 12 months into bf and no problems with supply.

@slippyfeet sorry, that came across badly, I meant in the sense that I'd always pictured being able to breastfeed and would be disappointed not to be able to. Of course there's nothing wrong with it. Also there would definitely be comments along the lines of "I told you so" from my mum, who "couldn't" breastfeed and keeps telling me I might not be able to either ffs.

Thanks all. I think my anxieties are getting a bit out of hand so will definitely be chatting to my midwife when I see her in a couple of days.

I never leaked in either of my pregnancies, and would say I have an over supply too. After the initial few weeks I don’t really leak whilst breastfeeding either, only very occasionally if I haven’t fed for a long time during the day. So in my experience the two things are not connected. Good luck, hope it works out for you.

No leaking second time around for me and I have a great supply!
What I would say is that success at BFing often rests on your support network. You want to be able to rant at the difficulties of BFing when they occur without just being told to switch to formula (let's face it we all rant about even things we love like our partners and children! And there can be difficult times when establishing BFing.) If your mum is unlikely to be this support, get your partner on side and get him to read up on things like when milk comes in, cluster feeding, growth spurts so he can support you through it, and seek out your local infant feeding group and even go along whilst pregnant so you already know the friendly faces. Best of luck.

I never leaked at all during my pregnancies, was diagnosed with post partum thyroiditis after ds was born, and i took sertraline until I was 12 weeks pregnant with dd. I bf'd ds until he was 8 months, and dd is happily feeding right now. A pp is right, success or failure of breastfeeding hinges largely on your mindset and your support network. You will need to spend a lot of time sitting and feeding, and you will need someone around to feed you, help you, and look after you.

Never leaked colostrum and fed my DS for 10 months. I also never leaked milk after he was born either, no need for breast pads at all and I got my bruiser boy well fed in that time.

I leaked during pregnancy and didn’t produce a drop of milk after birth!!

I never leaked in pregnancy. I didn't produce much colostrum but I persevered with breastfeeding and I'm still going at 10 months. Don't worry you'll be fine!

Leaking in pregnancy means absolutely nothing either positive or negative. Some people do, some people don't, nobody really knows why.

Good luck with breastfeeding. It can be wonderful - and at least you already know your mum can't and won't support you and may indeed actively undermine you. Connecting with a local BF group may be a big help.

I never leaked any colostrum, and bf both mine (still bfing ds, 18 months). In fact, I had gestational diabetes which in my hospital made me eligible for this pilot initiative that involved a midwife showing us pregnant women how to express colostrum before pregnancy and little syringe thingies to store it safely. I got absolutely none despite trying multiple times a day over the last two weeks of my pregnancy and she confirmed that it just doesn't happen for some mothers. I actually found the whole experience of trying to express colostrum upsetting and stressful as hell. Then, after by ds was born, his blood sugar dropped (despite fact that my gestational diabetes was very well managed), and he spent his first 48 hours in NICU, on a glucose drip, where they insisted on formula feeding - rightly so initially, until his blood sugars came up, after that I didn't agree but that's a whole other thread. The point is, I only had limited opportunity to bf him in those crucial first two days and despite this and the no-showing colostrum pre-birth, my supply came in and within a week he was off the formula and being exclusively breastfed.

Bf doesn't work for everyone I know, but if you're determined for it to work, then it is very likely that it will - nature will be on side and your colostrum will come through post-birth, followed in a couple of days by milk.

Btw don't panic if milk seems slow coming in initially, not everyone gets hugely engorged breasts, I didn't. Also, I found mumsnet to be absolutely the best support out there when I had problems bfing - reading old threads (tiktok's advice is amazing) and starting new ones.

Whether you leak or not is down to the width of your milk ducts, has no bearing on your ability to produce milk or breastfeed.

I never leaked with mine but I still produced, I think peoples bodies are just different!

I just want to urge you though to go into this with no pressures on yourself; I struggled due to a tongue tie and painful latch, baby weightloss etc and because I was so determined to breastfeed (I didn't even have a single bottle in the house) when we didn't make it past 3 weeks then had to move on to pumping, I beat myself up to such an extent that it massively affected me mentally, and I'm sure exacerbated my PND. It still affects me now.

Breastfeeding is bloody hard work. If you manage then amazing, you should be proud, but please don't put unrelenting pressure on yourself, being a new mum is hard enough as it is.

🍀🍀 to you.

Never leaked before birth. Breastfeed 2 babies, one for 10 months one for 15 months. With second one I had so much that I was able to donate for a few months. Also used tones of breast pads as I was leaking afterwards.
So no leaking now it doesn't mean you won't be able to do it.

I never leaked colostrum. I bf so well DD went up 2 centiles by 6 months!

Another one who never leaked colostrum. I was also completely unaware of my milk ‘coming in’, only needed breast pads in the first few weeks, and never experienced the feeling of ‘let down’ that’s commonly mentioned. I fed DD to almost 2. We had a slow, difficult and painful start due to tongue tie, but I was lucky to have a supportive HV who kept an eye on DD’s weight (she gained very slowly at the start but was having plenty of wet and dirty nappies). How much you leak or can express is not an indication of how good your supply is. If you want to breastfeed then have contacts ready for support if you need it e.g details of your local breastfeeding group or the national breastfeeding line - they were invaluable to me.

Good luck! Hope it works out as you want it to (but remember, if it doesn’t that’s ok).

I never leaked and had a massive supply and still feeding DS at almost 17 months. It doesn't mean anything.