Anyone had any luck with colostrum harvesting?

[Sara1988]

I'm 38 weeks. Been trying to colostrum harvest for the past week, 10 mins a day, once a day, after bath. Nothing yet.

Has anyone had any success with it? Any tips? I know someone just don't manage too but wondered whether to give up or persevere.

I managed to get quite a few ml of colostrum around that gestation, but it took ages of practice (YouTube videos are great) and I’m glad I did as I wasn’t able to breastfeed straight after birth so my husband gave it to DD. Unfortunately breastfeeding didn’t go well so it clearly doesn’t have a link.

@ChocolateBiscuit2 I've watched a few YouTube videos but nothing seems to help

I started at 38wks but had been slightly leaking some for 3/4 wks too.
I'm one of those annoying people, sorry, and I've found it really easy with the amount increasing naturally each day.

My tip would be to massage each breast first, make sure they're warm and slowly but steadily start at the outsides of your areola and push towards the nipple.

My output really changes depending on a tiny slight angle change of my hand. You can usually feel your milk ducts behind your nipples, so maybe try different angles of your hands and persevere.

If it's not working easily I really wouldn't stress about it. It's a possibly might be useful to have in specific circumstances if your baby is ill at birth. It's not necessary for thousands of babies and has no bearing on your ability to breastfeed.

It's a really recent thing and seems to be being promoted to expectant mothers as something really important that is causing far more stress than it's worth.