No Colostrum 😢

[AimeeLou84]

Hey. So I’m 38+3 today and in for a c section on Thursday so tried to express colostrum but I’ve got myself into an emotional state. My boobs have not grown since I’ve been pregnant, they feel a look as they did minus the big nipples and do not hurt and are not sensitive. I’ve tried expressing colostrum today and nothing at all is happening. I know I don’t even have milk in there my boobs are just the same as they were before pregnancy. I’ve got myself into a right state now that I can’t express colostrum and won’t be able to breastfeed. Please reassure me I might be able to or if you have any similar stories. This is my first baby and I was desperate to try express something and breastfeed. Thank you

Milk comes in around 3-5 days post birth. Baby needs very little at this point but put them to breast and have as much skin to skin as possible and you'll be grand. Don't be pressured by midwives into supplementing.

I didn’t get any colostrum before giving birth and I exclusively BF beyond a year and I’m on my second now. Try not to worry, you’ll be fine 😊

Honestly don't worry at all. I definitely produced colostrum (very leaky boob's from about 16 weeks) but despite that absolutely could not express it. I gave up as it was just too frustrating and like you it was really upsetting. I've managed to breastfeed.
I think colostrum harvesting is worth trying but if it doesn't work absolutely not worth stressing about.

Sorry if this has been said millions of times, I haven't rtft.

Look for a local breastfeeding group. They'd be thrilled to have you along and can show you how what to do.

There's a knack to expressing colostrum. I spent 2 days in hospital after DC1 trying it every three hours to syringe feed baby. The MWs had to do it for me for most of that time, it isn't easy, never mind before birth!

Happy hormones are important, take a break from it and approach it fresh tomorrow.

Don't worry about breast size meaning milk. It's like any other bodily fluid (think saliva, tears, sweat etc) - you don't need to store it, it's produced on demand.

I find it extraordinary that midwives are now routinely suggesting that women without any pregnancy issues attempt to produce colostrum prior to delivery. I wonder what the motivation is for this apparent policy change? It seems to be guaranteed to produce frustration and anxiety for most women who either won't produce anything (normal) or very little (normal) despite lots and lots of time wasting effort.

You also need to ask whether they have any specific training regarding feeding.

I managed to produce only 0.1ml just about once before my baby was born despite several sessions trying to express. Baby born by C Section and still breastfeeding at 9 months pp.

I do wonder if my technique wasn’t great as although I followed what I had read at a post birth breastfeeding class at the hospital it seemed I was perhaps not quite positioning right and it seemed you were supposed to be further back with a wider hand and do a squeeze and pause holding the squeeze for a few seconds. So definitely see if you can watch some of the videos suggested by pp if you can

I gave this a go but never managed to get anything out when pregnant. Breastfed my son for over 2 years and am currently feeding my 3 month old!

I attempted it with dc2 but couldn’t get a drop. Which wasn’t really a surprise as I’d exclusively breastfed DC1 but yet couldn’t pump anything and never leaked or felt full either.

Ability to harvest colostrum now says nothing about your ability to breastfeed successfully later.

Also your milk doesn’t come in until a few days after birth so you wouldn’t have any now in any case. The most important thing is to get the baby to the breast as soon as possible after birth and keep them there. A baby will do a far better job of getting what they need than a syringe or a pump.

I couldn't express before either of mine. One was a c section, one vaginal birth. In both cases plenty of breastmilk. Sometimes problems just don't express well until baby latches on. Try not to worry. Try to do what you can to relax.

Surely most women don't do this? I don't understand why you would stress yourself out about expressing colostrum unless you are reasonably expecting health problems with your baby at birth.

OP, you don't need to put yourself through the stress of this. It's a relatively new thing. Those of us with older children never even tried as it wasn't a thing. Most of us could breastfeed perfectly well if we wanted to. Just stop trying, relax and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.

I never managed to express any milk at any point op, and I breastfed 3 kids til 2+ - I was just rubbish at expressing, or my boobs didn’t like it, who knows, but the babies got very fat so there must have been some in there!

Honestly it takes quite a few attempts to even get a drop you also need to be really relaxed.
I found a warm bath worked and I would do it there. It took me a week to get 1ml but week 2 it increased.
The gestational diabetes website has really good instruction and help page for it.
Also it's not a sign of milk supply just take it as it comes.

I never even tried and breastfed for 13 months.
Stop making life difficult for yourself!
When you give birth your body releases hormones which trigger milk production. You haven't given birth yet!

I didn't know this was a thing either. I had baby number 5 just over two weeks ago and have over 6 years of breastfeeding under my belt. My boobs have never produced a drop of anything prior to giving birth I don't think. Once born, each baby had enough colostrum and ample milk to sustain growth above the 50% percentile. Please don't stress yourself over this, your body will kick in and do what it's designed to do once your baby is here.

With my first by boobs didn't change at all and I couldn't express any colostrum before birth, I also got very little when pumping after birth but I managed to exclusively breast feed my baby I til she was 2, she latched straight on after birth and never had any issues with supply or had to top up. Try not to stress x

I had gestational diabetes and a planned section so was advised to collect colostrum. I wrecked my nipples trying to get some. I was taught how by a midwife who said "I've never had a patient fail yet" so I thought I was doing it wrong. In hindsight I realise no-one ever saw her again (I certainly didn't!) so how can she claim that! I was so desperate I used a manual pump to get a little on my nipple to then syringe off, but as I said my nipples were agony which made establishing breastfeeding awful. So just keep trying but if it doesn't work, it's ok.

Also, pre pregnancy I was a small B cup, all through pregnancy remained small B cup and while breastfeeding I go to a slightly fuller B cup, then back. My milk came in fine/pretty quickly after both my c-sections.

Just seems like another new thing to stress out expectant mothers. I don't think I got any leaks in any of my 3 babies pre birth. All were breastfed

I tried twice to express colostrum at the end of the pregnancy with my third baby and I couldn't. I did not try again as it was making me stressed. I am still breastfeeding one year later. I don't remember being advised to express during pregnancy with my oldest two and I also managed to breastfeed them successfully for two years. So I would not worry about it.

I couldn’t express even a droplet whilst pregnant. When DS was born, I combi fed for 6 weeks then exclusively BF after that until he weaned at 2.5yrs! So definitely does not indicate anything about your ability to breastfeed.

If you would like to breastfeed, or combi-feed, I thoroughly recommend La Leche League support groups and courses.

This is what has stressed me out. She told me to start, gave me a bag with syringes and a tub and told me to you tube how to do it. This is my first baby, I literally have no clue and since the day she gave me that bag I panicked

Hi All. Thank you so much for all your replies. I don’t feel as bad now knowing that not everyone does this. My midwife has made me feel like I have to do it but I’m going to give it another go and if I can’t, I can’t. My baby girl is apparently weighing 8lb 11 at 38 weeks so it’s not like she’s not growing, although I do have GD.
Its my first baby so I wasn’t sure about the breast milk situation but now I feel a lot better. I expected my midwife to discuss these things with me but it seems not

I couldn’t hand express a drop of colostrum. DD latched on in recovery and I’m still BF’ing her now as a toddler. Don’t worry. Babies are so much more efficient at getting what they need than we are at hand expressing.

I think it’s been suggested to you because sometimes GD babies struggle with their sugars post birth so it just helps to regulate them. Like others have said though don’t stress yourself out about it. Great if you can, if nothing happens then just put baby on the boob as you would have done anyway 😊 I find putting a hot water bottle over my boobs for a few minutes before hand helps to get things flowing xx