Collecting colostrum but not breastfeeding

[Rachel1876]

I am 35 weeks pregnant and I was hoping to hear of anyone's experiences in collecting colostrum before the baby is born but not going on to breast feed when the baby arrives.

In the last month I have found out I have gestational diabetes and I understand that colostrum can help with help to regulate the baby's blood sugar. However I do plan to formula feed.

Any information/ advice or your experiences would be really helpful.

Thank you!

Hi there it's a midwife. It would be nice for your baby to receive colostrum even though formula is just as good as regulating baby's blood sugar. However colostrum and breast milk are much healthier than formula. What are your reservations about breastfeeding? There's so much misinformation out there, I wonder if you have the correct information

There is useful information here about expressing colostrum in pregnancy.

https://abm.me.uk/breastfeeding-information/antenatal-expression-colostrum/

Colostrum is also produced after birth and you may be able to express it then too.

I did that with no worries! Harvested enough for a day or two then went on to formula. Do you & see how you both go. You'll obviously be well-read in terms of doing it safely/hygienically, but there's not reason as to why you can't! 🙂