Pumping at 37 weeks

[shutupsteph]

Loads of my friends have recommended pumping at around 37 weeks, has anyone done this? I've seen bits online about how it's perfectly safe if you're considered low risk and can induce labour but was wondering if anyone had actually done it.

I'm in consultant lead care due to my weight but I've had no issues, baby's growth is fine, my levels are all fine etc.

I'm hoping to get used to using my breast pump and also to pump and save colostrum for when baby is born.

Not quite the same but i had a 32 weeker so i was exclusively expressing for her tube feeds.
If you want colostrum then i would hand express straight into syringes as its such a small amount. I'd be wary of using a pump pre birth, mainly as you could over stimulate your supoly which may make it harder for a newborn to latch, feed and regulate the flow to suit their needs.

You say your friends have recommended it but have any of them actually done it? Just intrigued as to why!

You mean to induce labour? I heard it can work but I don't see the point of trying to induce until 40 weeks unless it's for medical reasons.

If you're doing it to harvest colostrum then youre better off hand expressing with syringes as PP says - the volume you get would get lost in the tubes / bottle (but is sufficient for a newborn).

If you want to pump to bring on labour, dont know why you'd want to do that 🤷🏼‍♀️

I had GD and was advised to hand express from 37 weeks. It is a teeny tiny amount that you'll get, although I did produce more and more each day up until labour (although still very small!)

I've no idea why you would want to pump while pregnant. Pumping with a baby is hard work enough!

Agree with what others have said there really is no need to do this and risk labour unless medically advised.

Hand expressing to harvest colostrum is really useful. Have a look at the benefits of it. Using a pump wouldn't be effective and probably pretty tender whilst you're pregnant.

I have been recommended by the midwifery team to hand express colostrum which i have and have frozen. They don't want us to pump until baby is here and theres a need or milk has come in.

Why do you want to do this?

You can’t pump colostrum. If you want to harvest colostrum your midwife can give you a kit with little syringes for hand expressing.

I’m a HV and often recommend to hand express a little using a syringe to collect after 36 weeks if the mum is anxious about breastfeeding or if knowing she is going to have a C-section. We often recommend it more to get to know your breast and feel familiar with it before baby arrives. Mind, this is mainly just small amounts of colostrum and it’s not really needed to properly express milk unless anticipating some problems with milk production / breastfeeding post birth. Unicef BFI (best resource out there for breastfeeding!) has some info about hand expressing antenatally if you’re interested.