Collecting colostrum - how much?

[showmorekindness]

I'm 38 weeks pregnant and have started collecting colostrum. I can't find much information about how much colostrum to collect.

Assuming I have a straightforward birth, baby is born without any health problems and breastfeeding goes to plan, how much colostrum is baby likely to be given in syringes before moving on to regular breastfeeding? Or do you do a combination of colostrum syringes and breastfeeding for a while? If so, how long?

I'm finding it fairly easy to collect 2-3ml each time I try but it's not exactly fun so I don't want to collect too much if it's going to go to waste.

TIA x

It wasn't something that I did. Is it promoted these days?

Once baby is okay to latch after birth be it vaginal or csection you don't need colostrum at all. Have you been advised to collect it for any medical reason? Baby needs to feed at the breast frequently to establish supply, feeding syringes of colostrum when mum and baby are both OK to breastfeed could possibly delay/affect Milk supply.

My understanding is that it's considered beneficial for all babies although it's particularly recommended where babies are likely to be born with feeding difficulties or if mum is more likely to struggle with breastfeeding. This website is useful at explaining the benefits - abm.me.uk/breastfeeding-information/antenatal-expression-colostrum/

This is quite a new thing. It was mentioned a bit when I have my second in 2019.

Basically, the sooner you can put baby to breast after birth the better.

If you can't, a few syringes are good, but you don't need to go crazy.

But it's not really beneficial when feeding at the breast immediately and frequently is an option? You can have it just in case but if baby latches and feeds then you basically don't need it, the idea is to have it in case breastfeeding can't happen straight away for whatever reason. It can also be useful for top ups if baby has jaundice, but if there's no issues there's just no need for it.

Have had 2 babies in the last 3 years and can't say I bothered. Exclusively breastfed both until 6 months and continued to BF past age 1, so not like I'm not a breastfeeding advocate! If I had, a few syringes of a few ml would have been ample I think. But surely it's just not necessary in most cases? Hate to use the phrase but can't really think of a simpler way to put it than 'it's not what nature intended'. If it makes you feel better great, but I wouldn't give it a second thought if it's a hassle.

Thanks @Garman @Twizbe
No, there's no medical reason (currently) why I would need it, but from what I read I thought it would still be beneficial for baby either for the first few feeds or in the first few days alongside breastfeeding.
Maybe I will just keep some on standby in case I have problems breastfeeding for whatever reason.

To add, one of my babies latched poorly and I just expressed into a little cup and fed from that to top up from day 1, so even when things didn't go to plan it didn't matter and the baby still got the colostrum. I have a few friends who had to do the same.

If all goes well you don't need any, I've got 24 syringes still in my freezer from earlier this year. It definitely gave me peace of mind having them, and gave me confidence in my body that I'd already produced a bit (but totally normal not to produce any before birth too)

It’s the colostrum that’s beneficial, not the syringes. So as long as you’re both ok after birth, the baby gets colostrum direct from you by BF!

I really wouldn’t bother at all.

Did it with the first and got lucky in that she fed like a pro straightaway so what I'd collected stayed in the freezer, I used to use a haakaa during the day to collect enough milk for DP to tide her over with a small bottle of it if I was in a deep nap so we did add some of the colostrum to that but to be honest it was more useful to use to clean her sticky eye that she was born with!

Will collect again this time but mainly as trying to avoid induction so will be two birds with one stone. Baby might be early and is small so will be guided by midwife as to if I need to take any in with me but will certainly have some in the freezer with a view to using it as we did last time if nothing else.

I expressed about 40 x 1ml syringes pre-birth and we found it really useful. I had to go to theatre post delivery so it meant my husband could feed her while I was off the ward, and in the first few days we were home he also fed her using the syringes. Your milk doesn't come in until days 3-5 (for most) so they are reliant on colostrum until then. If you're producing it, no harm collecting it? Hopefully all will go well with your birth but having a stash just in case it's needed might be of use. It gave me some reassurance she could be fed if needed, even if I was otherwise occupied or she was struggling to latch etc.

If all goes well then you won’t need the expressed colostrum at all.

It would only be if baby struggles to latch, your milk takes longer than expected to come in or if you need to be separated for health reasons.

I collected a 1ml every other day for about 3 weeks. All was fine, DS is now 11 weeks old and It’s all still in the freezer!

I was comforted knowing it was there though

I did this and it was immensely useful as DD couldn't latch at birth and I had to pump. Having some in the freezer took the pressure off a bit, and also all the practice pumping meant that I was able to get a lot of colostrum out early in the hospital, which was helpful.

I'll definitely do it again if we have another. I just did it in front of the TV in the evenings for 20 mins or so! If I don't need it, then great. I hope I don't, tbh.

Thanks everyone, I understand it better now. I think I'll keep collecting a bit just in case but won't go overboard with it.

Yes, it's more of a just in case thing so the amounts aren't really important.

I’m having a c section just before 37 weeks as have a very small baby, I was recommend to express some colostrum but only around 3 syringes, although I’ve done 5 (just incase)

@8dpwoah when you say you'll do it to try avoid induction, do you mean because some people think antenatal expression encourages labour to start naturally? I've read mixed thoughts about this

Thanks @Thefaceofboe useful to know how much you were recommended to have for a csection

@showmorekindness apparently they only have a very small amount at a time because it’s richer than breast milk. I’m completely clueless so just doing as recommended and luckily I’ve found it really easy to do so far

I did it before both DC in 2018 and 2020. It was recommended in case of any feeding issues so I was doing it anyway first time around, and did the 5 x 1ml syringes given by the hospital ante natal class. Then found out I'd need an ELCS due to breech DC so did another 5.
They turned out to be invaluable because he struggled to latch so they meant he still got colostrum and only needed one tiny cup of formula.
I was really surprised to discover that I was the only mum on the entire post natal ward who'd done it given it was standard advice at my trust. I assumed everyone would try!
It was hard but the flow increased after a few days.
Second time around I did five but DD fed ok even if she did chew my nipples to shreds so I froze them and have used them since when she's been a bit snuffly as they're supposed to be good when DC are poorly.

[quote showmorekindness]@8dpwoah when you say you'll do it to try avoid induction, do you mean because some people think antenatal expression encourages labour to start naturally? I've read mixed thoughts about this [/quote]
That's exactly what I'm thinking, it did nothing at all to help get me ready last time to be honest (induced at term, cervix totally clamped shut and hiding at the start!) but I'm going to be trying any of the old wives' tales that I don't mind doing anyway just on the off chance that they help as I'd really like this induction to start with a more favourable cervix than last time. I like curry, and pineapple, DD likes going for walks, and expressing colostrum in front of the telly is no hardship so I'll be giving them all a whirl just on the off chance 🙂 no caster oil or anything like that though!

Definitely more of a back up thing, but if you are finding it fairly easy to do then I'd do about 20 of the little syringes if possible. There can be so many scenarios where its helpful, and nothing lost if you don't end up using it.

Breastfeeding (or harvesting colostrum) can cause the uterus to contract (helps your tummy get back to usual after birth) so thats why I think it's not recommended to do it too early in pregnancy in case of the small chance it could cause premature birth, so perhaps people also do it in the hope it gets labour started before needing to be induced?

8dp dates are meant to be the best thing for your cervix!

I had problem with the latch and wish I’d done this. I ended up hand expressing for each feed. I aimed for 1 syringe feeding every 2 hours on day 2. It could take me anywhere from ten minutes to an hour to express enough.