Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

Colostrum collecting

13 replies

Babycatsmummy · 25/04/2024 11:07

Hello! I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant now and my midwife advised me to start collecting colostrum. I'm having real trouble getting to grips with how to do this though without agitating my breasts ( which are super sensitive!) and inducing labour.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom to help me out?

Thank you!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Jackiebrambles · 25/04/2024 11:12

I don’t understand why the midwife would suggest this. When baby is born you’d put them to the breast and they’d get the colostrum then?

Original poster

Babycatsmummy · 25/04/2024 11:45

I've been given syringes to collect some now before the baby is here, it also helps if they have difficulty latching at first also. I think it's a good idea, I'm just struggling with it so any positive help would be appreciated

OP posts:

modgepodge · 25/04/2024 11:50

Jackiebrambles · 25/04/2024 11:12

I don’t understand why the midwife would suggest this. When baby is born you’d put them to the breast and they’d get the colostrum then?

If the baby struggled to BF when the baby is born, having a stash ready to feed them can take the pressure off. My daughter wouldn’t latch and I was trying to express enough to feed her, on top of them having to syringe feed her this was exhausting. I regretted not having expressed before she was born!

also, it may help induce labour - that’s why you shouldn’t do it before 37 weeks. OP presumably you’d be happy for the baby to arrive now? If you’re hoping not for a bit longer, maybe don’t start yet just in case.

SErunner · 25/04/2024 12:24

It's really sensible to try if you can. I had to be away from my baby for several hours due to surgery post birth and my husband was able to syringe colostrum. Hopefully all will be well but it's good to have as a back up. The likelihood of it inducing labour is very low (and at this point it doesn't really matter anyway, hence the guidance to only start after 37 ish weeks). Just go gently and see what you can tolerate. It's not the end of the world if you don't manage it :)

Talipesmum · 25/04/2024 12:26

I was pretty good at breastfeeding but I was hopeless at expressing, and never in a million years (possible exaggeration) would I have been able to express colostrum before the baby was born. I did eventually manage to do a bit of expressing but it wasn’t easy.

DappledThings · 25/04/2024 12:46

It's very new advice and seems to make expectant mothers really stressed. It's a nice to have, not a necessity. If everything goes well you won't need any pre-collected so if it isn't easy to get it now I wouldn't worry about it.

SouthwestSis · 25/04/2024 13:03

Great that you are aiming to colostrum harvest OP but definitely don't stress if it's not forthcoming.
I found doing it just after a shower or whilst in the bath worked well, had to be when I was relaxed.
Also the more you do it, the less sensitive it will feed (and good to prepare your nips for being "handled" if you want to BF as obvs baby will be at them!)
There are some good YouTube videos demonstrating the techniques, but just some breast and nipple stimulation can help prime for breastfeeding even if you don't actually get any milk out yet.
For lots of women it can take 6 or 7 days of trying before they start to get anything, so keep calm and carry on

DramaAlpaca · 25/04/2024 13:07

DappledThings · 25/04/2024 12:46

Yes, I agree with this completely. It's a new thing that causes mothers to be unnecessary stress.

If you're struggling to express, remember you don't need to do this at all if you don't want to or actively can't.

It wasn't a thing in my day, but I wouldn't have been able to do it. I couldn't express without a pump, couldn't do it manually, and the baby was much more efficient than expressing anyway.

Jackiebrambles · 25/04/2024 13:16

Yes I was never told to do this and my ‘baby’ is only 8! So it must be quite new.

DappledThings · 25/04/2024 13:18

Jackiebrambles · 25/04/2024 13:16

Yes I was never told to do this and my ‘baby’ is only 8! So it must be quite new.

My younger one is only 6 and it wasn't a thing then either.

2proseccosplease · 25/04/2024 13:28

When you first start it can be hard, and then your body gets the idea and it's easier every day.

Get really warm and cozy (I say on the sofa under a heated throw), put some nice tv on and massage your boob for 5-10 mins before starting to collect colostrum.

When you do start, try not to put much pressure on yourself. You might just get a tiny bit the first day. Put the syringe in the fridge and try again later or the next day.

Chasingbaby2 · 25/04/2024 19:41

Not essential by any means, I've now got a ridiculous number of those syringes on the freezer that are probably going to waste now. Might have been handy in the event of a c section.

LavenderSweetPea · 25/04/2024 21:03

I started trying at 37w but never managed to get more than a few drops on the nipple no matter how hard I tried, certainly nowhere near enough to collect. And the only way I could even get was by lying in a warm bath using flannels to warm the boob up. I tried a few days running but found that after a few minutes it caused me to cramp and get contraction like pain, as I wasn't really ready ideally for baby to come I'd stop when I felt that pain and planned to try 'properly' closer to 40w.

Baby came at 38w so I'd collected nothing. Fortunately wasn't necessary as we had no medical issues following birth and baby latched well, but I'd love to have had a collection of colostrum to I could give him in the future when he's sick :(

If you can't collect any don't worry, it's very common not to be able to and it has no impact on your ability to breastfeed if that's what you want to do.

Flip