Colostrum harvesting - help! Positive stories needed

[RMarieClaire]

Day 3 of attempting to collect colostrum and it’s not going well. Day 1 I got 0.5ml - not great but I knew it would be slow at first. Day 2 I got less still. Day 3 I’ve barely had a speck out of either breast. I am desperate to make this work but it’s so time consuming and essentially a waste of time so far. I have tried massage, hot shower first, and the c-shape motion. I breastfed DD1 and often hand expressed so fairly confident I have it right. Any tips? Will it get better? Should I give up?

I really want to make it work - I am 35+4, DD was born at 37+5 with severe jaundice and after 10% weight loss we were told to top up with formula. I don’t want to go through that again with another baby. But this is pretty demoralizing :(

Would love to hear your positive colostrum harvesting stories!

I used to put music on and sit on a birth ball while haversting the milk. When I did it twice a day I got more.

You are not ment to get a lot at first, it increases slowly. But then again everyone is different. I think 0.5 ml is amazing for the first week. I did notice if I skipped a day it would reduce.

Good luck op

There are videos on YouTube of babies crying, which is meant to help!

@miltonj

There are videos on YouTube of babies crying, which is meant to help!

Oh wow. I tried watching videos of my daughter as a newborn - maybe I need to take it to the next level! I'll try anything at this stage.

Thank you @Cowmilk - I'll try the ball too. Can I ask, did you just do it for short periods at first? I keep reading about people taking 20-30 mins, but as I'm not getting more than a couple of tiny drops, that seems pointless and potentially painful!

Gah, sorry @Cowmilk I should have said I actually only got 0.1ml not 0.5! So much less impressive.

Are you well hydrated?

Small quantities are to be expected, but if you know how to hand express already I'm a bit surprised you aren't starting to get more now. Try the crying babies though.

I hand expressed before my second starting at about 36+5 as I'd had a very sleepy first who struggled to feed and I'd hand expressed and syringe fed a ton of colostrum after he was born. As it happened I got induced at 37+2 and only did it for a few days, but I think I got 0.5ml the first day and then more like 1-2.5ml thereafter.

I used to be rubbish at collecting and expressing it but my partner was much better at it - maybe you need a helping hand?

Also I was recommended to express onto a sterile spoon to make collection easier too.

Lastly - how is your stress? I wanted to harvest on my last pregnancy but I was self isolating with a covid toddler so it was a non starter.

You've probably already tried it, but just in case, I find I can only get a good amount using two hands to squeeze, it's very fiddly to then get the syringe to collect it but I struggled until I realised that.

I harvested daily for a week until my daughter was born. I found:

• I had to find the right time of day. Post-shower didn’t work for me at all. I found early evening when I had just eaten to be best.
• C shape wasn’t the best technique for me. I found if I used all the fingers of one hand to kind of massage all round the nipple it stimulated the milk a lot better.I also found if I gently got them going for 5 mins before actually starting to squeeze I got a lot more milk and less painful.
• it takes time, especially as you are starting early! And there’s nothing wrong with having 10 syringes of 0.1ml - your baby won’t mind!

You don’t say how you are planning to feed this time - I had a similar first baby experience and this time we did formula from day 1 with colostrum both expressed and direct from breast. This worked really well for us and she gained weight brilliantly. You’ll probably find your first experience means you feel a lot more confident in how to feed them (however you choose to). E.g. for me this time I knew this time the importance of feeding at least every 3 hours so although I had another tiny sleepy baby I was very strict about waking her to make sure she fed. Wasn’t going to repeat last time!

I had to do it when I was pregnant with DS. Some days I barely managed enough from both sides to fill a 1ml syringe, sometimes I could fill 5 from both nips! I found it easier to focus the squeezing action on the nipple rather than the whole boob, and putting a warm flannel on helped me as well.

I was told by my midwife not to start harvesting until 37 weeks as it can induce labour, I leaked for my whole third trimester and then started collecting at about 38 weeks, some days I get about 0.2 ml others 1ml so it really varies. Going back to each side twice helps but I would maybe wait a few weeks and start collecting at 37. Also look up lactation smoothies as certain foods can increase supply

I never harvested colostrum or leaked in pregnancy. I was able to breastfeed both babies.

You're still quite early on at 36 weeks. You might find things don't get going until much closer to the birth.

If you can't do it, it's ok. You'll be able to once baby is here if you need the top ups.

@RMarieClaire I didn’t time myself and instead I did it until I felt satisfied with what I had.

Like a pp, I found that if I used both my hands to squeeze and then use the syringe to scoop up colostrum worked best for me. The syringe lay on a plate and I picked it up and down while I did it.

0.1ml is good, be patient and if you have a lactation specialist at your hospital ask a midwife if you can see them. I found out my hospital had a dedicated midwife when I was pregnant with ds2. Our hospital had a very low breastfeeding rate and they had one to help boost their breastfeeding rate. However, that was before covid times so things might have changed.

I saw my one at 30 weeks. She showed me different methods on a toy/ fake breast and then gave me syringes to take home for when I was ready (it was to early for me then). She gave me her work number to text/ call during office hours for further questions.

Can i ask why you do this? I've EBF both of mine and am 25 weeks pregnant. I never managed to hand express even when they were full to bursting so I think it would be a non starter but very curious as to how/when you use what you've harvested and what the benefit is?

@Muststopeating

Can i ask why you do this? I've EBF both of mine and am 25 weeks pregnant. I never managed to hand express even when they were full to bursting so I think it would be a non starter but very curious as to how/when you use what you've harvested and what the benefit is?

Usually people do it if they're expecting a premature baby or a baby that will need extra care after as you won't be able to breastfeed them. Or have a history of premature labour

@Muststopeating

Can i ask why you do this? I've EBF both of mine and am 25 weeks pregnant. I never managed to hand express even when they were full to bursting so I think it would be a non starter but very curious as to how/when you use what you've harvested and what the benefit is?

It can be handy to have colostrum frozen just in case it takes a while for milk to come in like if they have had a c section it can sometimes take some time, or for some people they simply can't breastfeed, so if they've managed to collect a bit during pregnancy it's amazing for the baby if mum is struggling to feed, and also if mum can feed fine colostrum is great stuff to give them in conjuction with normal breastmilk

Thanks ladies. Sorry, didnt mean to derail but was genuinely curious if I was missing a trick. There is a chance I'll have to deliver early so might be back here in a month asking for more tips. Good luck OP, hope you get the results you hope for.

Make sure you've very hydrated. That always helps me.

@Muststopeating

Thanks ladies. Sorry, didnt mean to derail but was genuinely curious if I was missing a trick. There is a chance I'll have to deliver early so might be back here in a month asking for more tips. Good luck OP, hope you get the results you hope for.

If you can get a few extra of those sterile pots you have to wee in that they seem to hand out all the time it's really handy to express into and then after a few days syringe and freeze!!

My daughter was very successful at harvesting colostrum - it came in very handy when her birth got extremely complicated and dangerous. After she was rushed into theatre for an emergency caesarian it was it was discovered the placenta was in a dreadful state and the baby had suffered terribly. Personally I think colostrum harvesting is likely to interfere with the body’s natural processes and it has never been rigorously studied by science. Most women do it because they are keen for their babies to be fed naturally and get off to a good start but there is nothing natural about forcing colostrum and the one thing that is certain is that it’s not a 100% benign process - it definitely releases oxytocin and may well confuse the body in ways that are not understood.

I read a lot from Mums on this site expressing thanks for having harvested colostrum because it came in so useful after having a difficult birth. What should this tell us!??

@notmums are you implying that harvesting colostrum causes difficult births?

Or are you acknowledging that it is mainly done by women who are more likely to have complicated births?

I always had high risk pregnancies and I have given birth between 37 weeks and 33 weeks. I’m not planning anymore children. But I followed the advice given to me by my midwife. Yes, it gave me braston hicks but it stoped soon enough and it gave me less of them compared to 20min walks.

I don't have a positive story about harvesting colostrum as I never tried. It was only 3 and 5 years ago I had my children but it was never mentioned then.

But I do have tons of positive stories about many women (including myself) who have successfully breastfed with minimal issue without having done this, including a 35 weeker who was happily ebf.

I can see the potential benefits of it if it works but it's coming up more and more on here as something that seems to be causing more stress and something else for pregnant women to feel worried about not being able to do when it mostly isn't needed. So please don't stress about it if it isn't happening.

I used a pump to harvest colostrum.
Midwife said it was fine to do. I then got some tiny syringes and sucked up the colostrum and froze the syringes. I found it much easier to pump than hand express.

@cowmilk yes you could right that harvesting is done by a higher proportion of Mums who are expecting a difficult birth, and that skews the figures but who knows?
I'm worried that so many women are carrying out a procedure without any solid proof either way. To me at first it sounded like a simple harmless thing to try but I'm not so sure after reading up on it. The OP asked for positive messages only - I can understand that because new mothers get so much conflicting information but sticking your head in the sand is never a good idea.
If you can agree there's just a possibility that breast stimulation or pumping could disrupt the chemistry going on in a pregnant mother - then why not play safe and let nature do its wonderful best?

@notmums, nature sometimes needs a helping hand. If not physiological, emotional help. It made me feel better that dc could have my milk with them if I couldn’t be in nicu with dc.

I do agree with knowledge comes power and without basic understanding and information people can’t make informed choice. But how many times do people really need to be told about the same risks?

I’m intrigued by the negative side off things. I had read about it possibly stating labour for some women. My midwife said it is similar to walking, it can cause practice contractions but not real ones.

I understand this is weird, even my dm still makes comments regarding me doing it. And how odd it sounds. She finds it odd and says if it has been recommended and you can do it, do it.