Colostrum Harvesting Fail :(

[LemonLight]

Hi all, I'm hoping to get some advice on colostrum harvesting.

I'm 36+3 weeks pregnant and my midwife gave me a harvesting kit at 36w and told me to start trying.

I've watched what feels like millions of videos, read what feels like every article and after practicing twice a day since Friday I'm still having zero success and it's really getting me down now. I've tried a warm bath, shower, warm flannel, all different techniques. At best (not always), my nips have gotten a little shiny looking as if they're a bit more moist than they were before but so far not a single droplet.

I would love to be able to breast feed if possible and I kind of expected at least after a few days of trying I'd have some success, but no. Has anyone got any advice or are willing to share their positive/negative experience with colostrum harvesting?

It's my first pregnancy and it was IVF, I had really low ovarian reserve and AMH for my age (<35y), could that be why I can't do it?

Honestly, don't stress yourself out by this. I couldn't produce anything with either of mine before delivery. My first was premature and never took to BF, but I did manage to harvest some Colosterum after they were born. My 2nd was born on their due date and took to it like a pro. It took around 3 days for my milk to come in. I fed them for 13 months. I only stopped as they wouldn't stop biting.

I could never express with my first but successfully breastfed until she was 3. I managed to express colostrum with my second but only if I used a manual pump and it was the tiniest bit (like 3-4ml) at a time. I still can't express enough for a bottle but he's gaining weight like crazy so something must be working!

Please don't worry!! Both my first and second pregnancy I could never manage it. It wasn't until a midwife showed me what to feel for after I delivered my second and she wouldn't latch that I got it. This is a good video https://myexpertmidwife.com/pages/colostrum-harvesting?campaignid=12000318607&adgroupid=122385409662&adid=534967489433&gadsource=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAzJOtBhALEiwAtwj8tsMGw53FkwNwe6O9hydKKa3lceC9LlQE9if-syI1HgSjfrpeDttixoCQRIQAvDDBwE

But what the midwife told me might be more helpful! Put your hand on your boob like you were going to mime shooting milk out of your boob at someone so in a c shape holding your boob around the nipple. Push down with your thumb and squeeze firmly slightly towards the nipple. This next bit is crucial. Continue that action moving slowly a few mm around your nipple, and you'll get a sense for where your ducts are, you can feel difference in texture of your boob, keep going and you'll start to see some tiny tiny pin pricks of colostrum.

For reference, the first time I did it after birth I got one or two pin pricks. I kept going, doing each about every hour, and I got 0.1ml gathered in the syringe. By day 2 I was filling the syringe in a session. For now, don't bother with the syringe just see if you can get a pin prick amount and stop. Then try again tomorrow.

You can always ask your midwife to show you the technique.

Is there a reason the midwife has advised you to start expressing? I did at 37 weeks to start trying to induce labour and because I had gestational diabetes so it would have been handy if baby was born with low sugars. I didn't need it with either, just went straight to breastfeeding little and often.

Thank you so much for all your replies, it's encouraging to hear it's not just me and many of you who had difficulty expressing colostrum were still able to BF after your little ones arrived. I've really been looking forward to bonding with our baby via BF so was feeling so motivated to be good at it. I started feeling like I was already a rubbish mum before our little one has even arrived.

@fluffytail my maternity unit recommends starting harvesting at 36 weeks for those who want to BF. Baby is measuring a little small and I've been very ill with HG throughout the pregnancy so she said it would be great if I could get some. Apparently colostrum is amazing to have because it's so nutritious and also helps bridge the gap if your milk doesn't come in straight away. I had never even heard of it before!

Colostrum is there from birth, a few days before your milk comes in.

You don't need to harvest it in advance unless there's an expectation your baby will be premature and need special care.

I never harvested, it simply wasn't a thing when I had my babies, nobody did it. I breastfed them without a bother.

Don't put yourself under this totally unnecessary pressure.

Didn't even know this was a thing so didn't do with either of mine. Try not to worry, it will come in at birth.
Enjoy your tiny squidgy new born!

Ah I see! My advice would be to have a good go, but don't stress yourself out if you can't express any. It's no indication of how successful you'll be at breastfeeding and baby will still get the colostrum in their first few days of feeding.

If you want to be prepared, you might find it helpful to have a look at some of the breastfeeding Facebook groups - we have a local one for my city but there's also La Leche League groups which you might be able to visit before baby arrives. I find Lucy Webber and Kathryn Stagg 's posts to be incredibly helpful. Lucy Webber has a book out called "the fourth trimester" which I wish I had read first time round!

Oh and I forgot to add - I BF both my children until they were nearly 2! Being able to express colostrum is a skill, not an indication of whether you can breastfeed.

The process of giving birth triggers a barrage of hormones which will make you start to produce colostrum. Some women may produce it a bit before, some women even leak milk in pg, but for most of us it's the hormones that are produced during labour that get it all going.

Don't worry at all, there is no indication that you won't produce colostrum after the birth, or that you won't be able to bf. And your milk will take a few days to come in, during which time your baby will get all the benefits of the colostrum you'll be producing.

Not everyone can do it OP. I could barely squeeze a single drop even when I was overdue! I breastfed easily with no issues. The delivery of the placenta will make your body produce colostrum if it hasn't already started.

I harvested 100ml for my daughter as she had something wrong with her kidneys and they planned to admit her to special care baby unit once she was delivered. I felt out of control so it was how I had some control of the situation and I could feed her whilst she was in incubator.

Took me about a week to get 1ml but then it just poured out of me. It was ridiculous.

I don’t know what a harvest kit looks like but I just used 1ml syringes and focused on squeezing the very end of the nipple and not the boob at all. All the videos I found were people squeezing their boobs but that didn’t work for me.

Congratulations and good luck!

I couldn't harvest colostrum at all but had no issues at all in feeding. Please try not to worry about harvesting- as pp say, many (most?) women can't as the relevant hormones only really kick in in labour.

Don't worry about harvesting. Have a go at expressing without the pressure of gathering the colostrum. Play around with it and relax.

If you can, get to a breastfeeding group for advice and experience. The one I go to is super friendly, mums-to-be are welcome and I know I'd be thrilled to help teach and show how to do it.

It's a really recent thing that's come in. My youngest is only just 6 and this was never mentioned then. I understand it can be helpful if you have a c section and the triggers for your milk to come in might be a bit slower but the colostrum is there.

It's a nice to have as back-up. If you get help to get a good latch early on you won't need it.

I collected colostrum with both pregnancies but it took me days to get a small amount and at least 10 days before I was getting any real amounts. Breastfed first till 18 months old and was feeding him at around 12 weeks pregnant with 2nd. 2nd a month old and feeding been fine. Keep trying but don’t stress. Honestly both times I’ve collected it and barely used 2 syringes.

I don't think it's an indicator of if you can BF or not, at all

I never did it with DS1 and BF for over 2 years

@DappledThings I think you're right, I've never heard of colostrum before (until a few weeks ago) I kind of just assumed that baby comes and then you learn to breast feed, but they ask every person at my maternity unit to try (unless they want to formula feed). I'm not sure if it's widespread though, a friend of mine recently had a baby a few months ago and she had no idea what I was talking about when I said about colostrum harvesting. All the leaflets I got from the NHS say you can do it from 36 weeks but say nothing about not being able to! Maybe I should feed that back at some point.

I wanted to harvest for my second dc. Had zero luck and ended up with really sore nipples. Breastfeeding has been really great overall from the start this time and he's now 8 months and still going strong with it. First dc I hadn't heard of harvesting but had a rougher ride due to tongue tie. I recommend joining your local la leche league group on Facebook for support. Also, multi mam compresses are good for tender nipples in the early days, and silver nursing cups really saved the day for me at the start of this feeding journey. I think I expected breastfeeding to be easy but actually it takes a lot of work. Or at least it did/does for me. Probably my best achievement though. Good luck xx

I didn't even know it was a thing. Nobody mentioned it to me when I was pregnant. I gave birth with emergency C-section at 37+2 and BF DD from birth with no problems other than my nipples being flat so had to use shields. It took 2 days when suddenly my boobs felt heavy from the milk coming in.

WTF have I just read?!!!!
Surely, that’s not a thing now?!!!! Is it a private hospital ?
Colostrum is simply the « first » extra fatty, extra nutritious milk that your body produces for the first few days AFTER giving birth. The only time you need to express it is if your baby needs medical assistance and you can’t feed them. WHY TF are you using expression kits at 36 weeks ?

Apologies if you’re expecting a premature baby with additional health needs at 37 weeks, but if you’re having a normal pregnancy then trying to express now (and stressing about it) is completely batshit.

I was asked to try expressing colostrum due to having gestational diabetes but I was never able to but DD and I successfully fed for over 4 years, so don't worry about it too much. I was never able to express milk either!

I’m going to be very cynical here and make a guess that some admin at your maternity unit has gotten kickbacks from harvesting kit manufacturers.

I tried with my first and had no idea what I was doing so didn’t get anything. Breastfed for 2 years.

With my second, I had a better idea and got a decent amount in week 38, before he was born at week 39. I only ever needed it once!

Given birth in two different trusts and did the NCT - they all went on about colostrum harvesting.