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?

I was asked if I wanted to at my trust. It wasn't even a thing with my first and I didn't need anything else to worry about, so thanks but no thanks. It was written in my notes that I had declined colostrum harvesting.

Have you tried squeezing quite hard?

I couldn't get any before my 1st baby and convinced myself there was nothing in there, until after birth the midwife showed me how to do it properly. You sort of need to squeeze from the breast quite hard, not just the nipple.
2nd baby I was able to collect a massive stash before birth (which I collected in case I had the same problems with latching/birth complications as 1st time around)

As if there isn't enough pressure on new mums, now they're advocating 'harvesting' before they'd even new mums.

Please don't stress about this OP.

Your health visitor from 10 years ago gave you incorrect information. Here is what to do about nipple pain https://globalhealthmedia.org/videos/what-to-do-about-nipple-pain/

Even if you get latch perfect then IME there is still pain purely from getting your nipple sucked at for the first week or so. They do have to 'harden up' a little.

Thank you so much for all your comments, it's been a comfort reading about everyone's experiences. Seems like there's a mixed bag but I'm relieved that a lot of people either didn't need to harvest any or like me weren't able to produce any!
Good point a few people have made, that it seems like an unnecessary added stress to pregnant women out there! I work full time, am super exhausted and HG has held me hostage for 9 months so having to worry about colostrum harvesting was just another thing to stress about! Humans have been doing fine without it for centuries right?!
Thanks as well for the tips shared here, I'll try them out and see if it improves, but like others have said, won't be making my poor boobs sore in their last weeks of freedom by over doing it.

I am feeling a lot better about it now ❤️💕

Wish me luck for when the baby does arrive!

Don't worry about it at all. I also tried from 36 weeks and never got anything but I'm breastfeeding my baby successfully now

I'm 36 weeks today and have nothing come out. I have on 2 occasions had a drop but that's rare

The whole idea of correct positioning and attachment is that the nipple goes at the back of the baby's mouth and out of the way. The baby shouldn't be suckling at the nipple at all, so no need to harden them, this is out of date and incorrect advice. If breastfeeding hurts it's due to the following 1. Incorrect latch 2. Undiagnosed tongue-tie 3. Thrush in the breast. Any woman in this situation needs to seek her local breastfeeding support group/lactation consultant rather than put up with pain.

Yes I do agree with you broadly. But these things won't be sorted in the first week realistically. My DC both had tongue tie but it was a different form of pain (a real rubbing soreness coupled with vaspospasms) The first week they were sore from just being wet out and out all the bloody time and this settled. I think pretending that it doesn't hurt at all unless you're doing it wrong doesn't help anyone. It does hurt for most women to begin with and yes you have to learn and baby has to grow but that takes time and support. Being honest that it may well hurt while you learn is sensible.

You are absolutely right, no need to stress yourself out with colostrum harvesting if it's not working. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and birth!

My first had tongue tie - it hurt like hell at first.

My second is now two months old and it hasn’t hurt once when breastfeeding.

Conscious I’m just sharing my own experience, but I was surprised to have no pain the second time round.

Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy and birth, @LemonLight , honestly, in the absence of a medical concern forget all about it and bloody well have a rest. Xx

What? Why? I just gave each baby the breast as soon after birth as possible and went on from there. No prep before birth.

I got a bit of help with the first baby while in hospital and at home and we needed a bit more intervention later as she wasn't the best at feeding to be honest. I'd also had a full session on breastfeeding at antenatal classes, and knew who to ring for more help such as midwife for first 10 days, health visitor after that, also local NCT breastfeeding counsellor and/or La Leche League rep, in each baby's case, didn't need it with the subsequent babies but it was there if I did.

I've never heard of it before. I've had 2 C-sections and plenty of colostrum when the babies were born.

Where does this harvested milk go? How do you feed it to your baby?

I remember leaking slightly during pregnancy that led to dried up bits in a bra/nipples.

Please don't stress yourself out about this, especially as so many have ever heard of it.

If there's nothing at the moment then your milk will come in when baby is born... Which has been happening to humans and mammals for centuries.
It's all very strange these days!

I didn’t have any leading up to birth. Not a drop. Birth kick starts it off if you don’t have it before, so don’t worry. I breastfed. It’s not an indicator of being able to breastfeed or not, and it will come in when you give birth and baby will have this while waiting for your milk to come in a few days later.

This is just another thing for you to beat yourself up about! This is not necessary!

If it was essential to do this, to establish breastfeeding, then gorillas would do it. And they don't!

Your milk will come in when you have the baby, you've got weeks to go yet. Chill, relax, enjoy a bit of peace.

No matter what you're told its really common to not produce enough milk or have a baby who refuses to latch on

I think evidence shows that it's quite rare for a woman to physically not be able to produce enough milk. However, it's more likely that a lack of support from qualified lactation consultants (IBCLC is the gold standard) can lead to a poor latch and therefore lower supply.

There is also a very poor understanding of what is biologically normal behaviour for a breastfed baby so people worry that it isn't working, rather than trusting their bodies. So many women in my antenatal group have started giving a bottle to help the baby sleep. Which is absolutely fine if it works for them. However, waking frequently to feed is really normal in a breastfed (and nonbreastfed) baby and not responding to that can have a knock on effect on supply if you are not careful.

Sorry to digress. I just feel so passionate about getting women the right support and information in place really early so that they have the choice to start and stop breastfeeding, not feel forced into decisions because it's not going well.

I would just add that wanting to feed all night long is a normal baby behaviour, especially until milk comes in day 3-4. As long as the baby is peeing and pooing they are getting enough. They gradually swap nights for days over a few weeks. From a practical perspective I personally found the first 2 months of exclusive breastfeeding very hard- my children were always on the breast.
After 2 months they started taking milk in 15-20 minutes. Most of my friends mixed fed at that point. They had to take out flasks of hot water and formula, to sterilise those bottles. I just had to put my children to the breast. It was so hassle free.