Colostrum

[justamum98]

Hi, I’m nearly 37 weeks pregnant and want to harvest some colostrum before baby is here to take it to hospital.

ive had a c section last time and due to complications i couldn’t beastfeed for a while after plus the baby was tube fed. hopefully this time I will have a natural birth and everything will be much easier.

anyways, I have a few questions about it 😊

1. Where does everyone get those syringes from? Midwife? Amazon?
2. do they need sterilising before using?
3. do you express into a small cup then syringe it out or straight into syringe ?
4. how often do you express a day? Do you have to be consistent with it like you do with milk otherwise you lose supply?
5. is colostrum all you get before baby is here or does your milk follow 2-3 days later?
6. how do you freeze this? In syringes? Do you have to buy special breast milk bags from supermarket or can you put syringes into normal food bags?
7. if I have a long labour and can’t express for 2 days. Will I lose colostrum?
8. and finally, when they baby does arrive. Will my breasts still produce colostrum then milk or do they jump straight to milk as you’ve been expressing colostrum for a few weeks beforehand?

I feel really dump not knowing this but I’m not confident at all.

thanks a lot for all your answers ❤️

Hey x I'm following with interest as I'm 37+4 and just ordered some syringes from amazon.

I too had a section last time and initially struggled alot with breastfeeding.
DD dropped a considerable amount of weight and I ended up having to top up her feeds with formula for a few weeks until everything caught up.

That first night in the hospital was awful trying to squeeze out the tiniest little drops of colostrum (certainly nowhere near enough to fill even the syringe let alone a cup). It was literally tiny droplets. No support or assistance (covid) and no real clue what I was doing.
I don't know if that's normal to get so little initially or if that was connected to the issues with my supply coming in.

Anyway, hoping to be a bit more prepared this time so following with interest.

Also following as hoping to do the same. I did it last time successfully but have forgotten everything though I’ll try my best to answer some Qs.

1. I got my syringes from the midwife. They don’t give many so ask for plenty - I had to go back to get more.
2. They’re sterile already in sterile packaging etc but double check with midwife if they provide them for you.
3. I would squeeze a droplet then use a syringe to suck it up. When I started producing more, I used a small sterile cup (like one good put a tiny amount of medicine in) then syringed it up in greater volume when I had a few droplets in the cup. Please note we aren’t meant to produce loads so don’t think it’s not working. I was underwhelmed but I told my midwife and she said it was a really good amount.
4. I was advised to have a nice shower at night, massage your breasts slightly (my midwife helped explain technique which I can’t quite remember) then express by simply gently squeezing the bottom of your breast in a downward motion after the shower, somewhere relaxing. I used to do it in bed listening to music or hypnobirthing. I won’t be able to do this this time with my toddler! 😂 I didn’t do it every single night, no, and seemed to produce a lot of syringes of it after a slow start. But please check with midwife about supply - although as far as I’m aware it’s not like keeping the actual milk supply up! A midwife suggested I it just once a day at night and not necessarily every day.
5. Colostrum until the baby arrives and that was what I had until my milk came in on day 3 (after having my baby). Be prepared for Day 3 (for many - not all) and the milk/hormones/tears.
6. Frozen in syringes. I then put inside bigger zip lock sandwich bags then a brand new Tupperware as my syringes built up I think.
7. As above, I still produced colostrum and in similar amounts after a break for a few days. In fact, I expressed around 37 weeks consistently (ask your midwife when they advise you to start) but then I’d have a couple of days off then another go then a day off here and there too.
8. As above, Day 3 (after baby’s arrival, NOT after harvesting colostrum) is a thing when milk tends to come in. Not for all women but it did for me even after an EMCS.

Please do not take my word for gospel here and ask your midwife. Like I said, I’ve forgotten a lot although I did get all my info from my midwife/my few pregnancy books/resources online at the time but I don’t feel confident hence following for tips for this second pregnancy! But I remember making a mountain out of a molehill with this - and breastfeeding in general. It’s daunting when it’s all new but it’s pretty simple once you have a go a few times.

Good luck ladies!

I had no idea that was possible. Every day’s a school day 😁
Congratulations!

Sorry to quote the whole OP! I was using it to answer the questions.

Forgot to add: I wouldn’t bother taking it to hospital unless you encounter a problem with feeding and the midwife advises you to use your harvested colostrum. (Remember not many do this anyway.) So glad I didn’t as I knew it would have been left there (and I’d have cried my eyes out if it was anything like when I spilled breast milk! 😂) - or I’d have taken it home then perhaps not wanted to use it after defrosting or something. I used to top my DC up after breastfeeds with colostrum in syringes before bed time. It defrosts really quickly as it’s such small amounts in tubes. I’d take a tube out and it’d defrost in a short while in the summer.

What’s the advice on adding to a syringe, ie can I add more colostrum from harvesting later in the day and then freeze it all together?

And is there any point in freezing the tiniesttttt amounts if I can’t fill a syringe?

TIA!

Following this!

I’m sure it’s a few hours at room temp and a few days in the fridge but please do check. I was interrupted once while collecting it so put the syringe in a sterile container in the fridge but I personally wouldn’t do it overnight in case i forgot about it and wasted it. I had a few half full syringes frozen though but I’d prefer that.