Used a breast pump at 29 weeks pregnant now panicking

[LolaBumble]

Feeling very silly. Started buying the odd few bits for the baby, including a manual breast pump. Just gave it a go to see what it was like/how it fit, literally did like 2 pumps then noticed my breast was leaking a little which is new. Done a quick google and seen that this is an absolute no no to do while pregnant!! Feel like I’ve done something horrible, any advice appreciated

Why shouldn't you use one when pregnant? Lots of women breastfeed whilst pregnant.

Give your midwife a ring? I'm sure everything will be fine but they'll be able to make sure everything is okay.

My advice is to relax. You did it for a few seconds, nothing bad is going to happen. The breast milk is likely there because your body is doing as it should, you just stimulated it to come out my pumping.

Obviously if you started contracting or something contact someone but otherwise I wouldn’t even think about it

Calm down
Was probably just colostrum which is pretty normal at your stage of pregnancy
Some women even hand express colostrum for use after birth

From a very quick Google it seems that it can raise oxytocin levels which can potentially cause contractions. But it's not a 100% thing and it seems like the risk is quite small in an otherwise healthy pregnancy.

Don’t worry about it. It’s normal to be making colostrum in the third trimester. The reason you’re not supposed to pump before about 37 weeks is that there’s some evidence that nipple stimulation can help to bring on labour. But two pumps isn’t going to make a difference so don’t worry about it. Give the pump a wash, let it dry completely, and put it away for now.

@QuestionableMouse but as mentioned
above, dont some women continue to feed their older children while pregnant?

Thank you guys feeling reassured! Feel silly, it didn’t even cross my mind it was something you’re not meant to do while pregnant!

I imagine that as those women have fed throughout the pregnancy they will have consistently slightly elevated levels of oxytocin. Conversely for a woman who is not feeding the increase in oxytocin would be more dramatic. There’s a possibility that nipple stimulation near full-term can help to stimulate contractions but it’s by no means certain. OP will be absolutely fine.

The danger is that it could cause contractions to start. If you haven’t had any contractions then don’t panic, you’ll be fine. Just don’t do it again during pregnancy.

Women may start producing colostrum from about 16 weeks of pregnancy, so it's perfectly normal that some would leak during nipple stimulation: nothing to worry about here. Regarding the risk with pumping, you would need to pump vigorously for like 20 minutes or so to perhaps cause contractions. I wouldn't worry about 2 single pumps