No luck with colostrum harvesting - advice please

[NearlyThere91]

Hi there,

Please can people share their top tips, advice and reassurance with colostrum harvesting?

I'm 36w4d today and have tried multiple times for the last 4 days on midwife's advice (have c-section at 39w1d).

Absolutely no luck, nothing.

I've tried after a shower, a bath, applying warm flannels, doing it in a dark room, doing it while watching tv, getting my husband to help... just nothing.

Has anyone been in the same boat?

My advice is to give up and stop trying. It's absolutely not necessary.

I did it with my first and the full syringes eventually went in the bin unused.

If bf is a success you won't need them. If bf is not a success it will be easier to express once the baby is here if that's what you want. If you can't bf or express then you can bottle feed. All those options are better than putting yourself through the stress, time commitment and discomfort (which I remember well) of trying to get blood out of a stone so to speak!

And I should add that I had a section...

I never got any before the birth, I did take the syringes to hospital, she latched fine straight after birth and fed well, she went a bit sleepy after so I then managed to hand express some into the syringe to be fed to her - didn’t wake her up though! Then she fed alllllll night latching fine, still feeding now and she’s 2. It’s nice to have but don’t worry if you don’t get any!

I have never harvested colostrum and breastfed three babies successfully.
Advice overload can be anxiety inducing and counterproductive. Your boobs are about to be very much in demand, I would leave them be for the time being ☺️!

Not everyone can produce colostrum early and that’s ok. Even if you can it is tiny amounts.
have you checked your technique is correct? - rather than pushing around the base of the nipple, it’s a bit further back. Also massage them beforehand.
I ended up with about 10ml that felt amazing but some syringes took 2 sittings to fill.

Honestly I had no success either. I didn't have any luck pumping once DD was here either.

I had a c-section and DD fed well afterwards so don't stress yourself about it. We successfully breastfed despite a section and even though I couldn't pump - she has no problem extracting from source!

I bf a 35 weeker without self torture!
Stop worrying op..

I was never able to harvest any colostrum with either baby. Bf first baby for two years and feeding second DS plus pumping so not a problem with production. Some people can’t produce it before birth and that’s ok.

I was unable to express antenatally in my first pregnancy, still BF to 2 years. This time I'm getting a couple of mls per breast per session. Oxytocin helps so doing it after a relaxing bath or orgasm can help! Lots of massage before hand. I'm using an electric breast pump for 5 mins as well, so then when I hand express I'm able to get more.

I started 36ish weeks when they thought baby was small, because sometimes small babies struggle to maintain their blood sugars. last scan showed baby now a normal size so have stopped doing it as much, only to encourage labour to start now I'm term!

I tried for ages and didn't get any antenatally - tried all the tips and tricks. I've been EBF DS now for 12 weeks. It's not an indicator of supply or any feeding problems.

Just breastfeed when they arrive. I never harvested colostrum but successfully breastfed for 3 years.

I know it's a "thing" now but unless you're expecting a poorly baby who won't be able to oral feed, I wouldn't worry about it.
Its not like it won't be there when baby comes. So either they'll bf or your milk will come in on its own and you can do it or it won't and you can't control it.

When you say nothing, do you mean you're only getting a few drops and not enough to fill a syringe with, or literally nothing at all?

I did some antenatal colostrum harvesting in my last pregnancy. I don't remember exactly when I first noticed a few drops of colostrum but I think it pretty late in my pregnancy. (I'm currently 33 weeks and haven't seen a single drop so far, but my nipples are getting a bit of a crust on them, which was the first sign last time.)

Last time I think I started trying to express when I first saw a few drops and for the first week or so I barely got anything out. The first few days I literally didn't get more than two or three drops, so not even worth trying to collect it. The first time I bothered to collect anything in a syringe was after quite a few days of trying, and I only managed to fill maybe a quarter of a 1ml syringe.

By the time I gave birth I was easily managing to fill at least one syringe a day, maybe two. I had about 15 syringes in the freezer by the time I gave birth.

I was grateful for the syringes last time because my baby was born unexpectedly small and I really didn't want to supplement with formula. Being able to give him some extra colostrum was really reassuring.

this specifically is what’s giving me so much anxiety. Producing absolutely nothing and know how useful it is 😞

@NearlyThere91 please stop doing this to yourself. I promise you there are a million tiny ways to punish yourself as a mother but nearly all of them are not worth it. Trying to force milk out of your boobs before you have given birth is not a good use of time or effort or mental space. This lady may have found it useful but 100s more will not have found it useful and it needs to be balanced against how it makes you feel whilst doing it. I honestly promise you that you don't need to harvest colostrum and it's really just another thing women beat themselves up over or worry about for failing to do.

I never managed to get a single drop. Latched on from birth after c section (I did give top ups of formula from a tiny cup from the hospital) milk didn’t come in until day 5 (and was so much it spurted everywhere after a shower) but she only lost 8% of birthweight.

Colostrum will come (and must be so filling!) Don’t worry about it. Have a nice relaxing bath instead …I’ve never had one since!

Still breastfeeding 15 months after a c section. Don’t worry. You’ve got this

I did it at 38 weeks and ended up using most of mine during my hospital stay. She was so hungry I couldn't keep up! I kept sending the other half home for it. Just give yourself a little more time. X

This is a fairly new thing. It just wasn't done when I had my children. Honestly, if you can't or don't want to there's no need. Personally, I couldn't hand express at all after the birth but had no trouble breastfeeding. Please don't torture yourself about this.

I had absolutely nothing pre birth. Not a drop. Milk everywhere once baby was born. They just didn’t kick in until that bit. I always found expressing pretty hard - baby was masses more efficient. Don’t worry about it!

Have always breastfed and never even heard of this! Remember people (and animals) have been successfully feeding babies for millennia billions of years without harvesting their colostrum. Save this time for relaxing instead!

Is this your first?
My first I didnt manage to collect much colostrum until about 38 weeks and was minimal.
Took it to the hospital where it wasn't used as I just breastfed immediately, lack of hand expressing colostrum did not mean I couldn't BF. My main milk supply came in when home 2 days later and I actually had way too much milk.
This pregnancy my milk / colostrum came in really early, I noticed it about 25 weeks. Not sure I will bother collecting it though...
Just to add though, even with a breast pump and a good milk supply I never managed to express much. My boobs just didn't seem to let milk out unless feeding baby

Please do not worry! I also was advised to harvest what I could and also had a planned section booked for 39 weeks. I tried and tried and nothing happened, not even the tiniest bit. My doctor told me not to worry. When my daughter was born we had an amazing feed in recovery. My milk supply came in within a couple of days as it should have. She did struggle with breastfeeding, but it was nothing to do with my supply, it was her latch. I now pump and bottle feed and I've not had any issues. Harvesting colostrum can just becomes something else to stress about!

Relax, the baby makes the milk come. And being relaxed. Breastfed 4.

I didnt get any before birth and im pretty sure it brought on my labour the day after i tried at 37+5w. So I'd watch out for that!

As it was, i had a very small and very poorly baby (June 21). She wouldnt latch straight away so as i was planning on bf the hospital provided donor milk for her immediate couple of feeds via a syringe and in the meantime, a bf specialist came and helped me with my technique etc. Then i hand expressed for 5 or 6 days whilst she was in NICU / SCBU until my milk came in and she got strong enough to bf (and the hospital loaned me a breast pump).

So please dont worry. Even for those babies that need it the most, there are ways to sort it after the birth!

My child is 13. I breastfed for 3 years.

my husband and I took prenatal breastfeeding classes. When there were issues after dd was born, I hired a private lactation specialist who got us past the difficulties.

not once did I ever here the word colostrum harvesting. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s very new. I must admit to being a bit skeptical after seeing the stress it causes so many mothers.