Colostrum harvesting

[Katherina198819]

I am 34 weeks pregnant with my second, and I'm planning to start collecting colostrum from 37 weeks. Does anyone have any tips that can help? I haven't tried this with my first.

Please do not leave comments that "you don't need it" because I really struggled with this with my first. She was a hungry baby, and I had little colostrum, which didn't fill her up. I ended up topping up her with formula until my milk fully came- which is fine, but I prefer if I had some colostrum this time in the freezer just in case.

I have found that trying every day helps. After a hot bath or shower.

Hot shower and then a hottish hot water bottle over your breasts. Also, definitely follow the instructions and massage.

I struggled to get anything with my first, with my second it was so much easier for me. Had a ridiculous amount in comparison, which was all used by day 3 as we had sugar stabilisation issues.

Agree with other PP. Don't be discouraged if the amounts are small, I got hardly any either time tbh. Even less with DC2 because I had less time to commit to it.

hey, if you mention to your midwife you want to collect colostrum she should give you some syringes and labels (my midwife did) i hand expressed into a sterilised pot and then sucked it up into the syringe popped a label on with name, date and my hospital number and froze it, the midwife said to put the hospital number on so they can pop it in their freezer when i go into labour and they know whose it is, i forgot to take it to the hospital anyway 🤦🏻‍♀️ lol xx

Thank you so much!

@Avie29 I have already bought syringes but I will ask my midwife for pots an labels. Thank you for the tip :)

If you're not producing loads, then get the 1ml syringes and syringe straight from the nipple. Get comfy, something on netflix, pics of cute babies on your phone and have a go. Don't bust a gut over it as that will inhibit it - accept that that morning/afternoon wasn't a goer, live your life and try again another time. I used to have a 30mins netflix break once or twice a day, chill out, just get the 1ml and i still had a solid bag of 30 syringes come delivery.

Hello!

Remember to check with the hospital you are giving birth at that they have the facility to store colostrum. Mine do not, despite them being a specific women and children’s centre… I’ve heard of many women have their colostrum wasted or disposed of after months of harvesting 😟

I syringed straight from the nipple with help from my husband. Also, I second the other comments about not stressing about amounts, as I found my mood dramatically altered how much I was producing- the more stressed and frustrated I got, ironically, the less produced. We ended up getting into quite a nice routine by the time my DD was born- we’d stick some light hearted series on the telly, and do it at the same time each night. Ended up being a really nice bonding experience before the baby arrived in the end actually. I do think it really helped get my breasts into gear, so to speak, so breastfeeding was easier. Good luck!