Colostrum Harvesting - No Success

[Catlady2202]

I’m nearly 37 weeks and my midwife gave me some syringes to start collection. I’ve tried two days now and not even a drop is coming. It’s like nothing is there. It feels really demoralising and I burst into tears afterwords which is the complete opposite of the oxytocin production I want.

I try after having a hot shower and I start off relaxed and then it becomes stressful. My boobs start to get a little itchy and ‘sore’ not painful and then so I know it’s time to stop.

i really planned on breastfeeding / I’ll be so upset if I can’t. And I know ‘fed is best’ but I just feel less of a woman for not getting any colostrum out and even more embarrassed that I get so upset during the process because I’m meant to be producing love hormones and instead I’m stressed.

has anyone had the same issue and breastfeeding was successful after baby was born?

A very small number of babies can't get colostrum through routine breastfeeding immediatwly after birth, yes.

Even those babies who are unable to breastfeed immediately after birth (or for subsequent days until milk comes in) will be fine with newborn formula.

Blanket pressure/ advice to every pregnant woman to do it is absolute nonsense.

I never got anything with colostrum harvesting but breastfeeding was fine so there's really no link.

My kids are early 20s and never did it. In fact my DD was in NICU for three days but I still managed to breastfeed her when she came out. Can’t think of any friend who did it either. If it’s stressing you just stop. It will happen when the baby’s arrived. But sure why the need to do it before birth anyway.

Oh god, I remember so vividly how you're feeling right now! I could never get a drop while pregnant but went on to feed 2 kids for 2 years each. Save yourself the worry, rest up as best you can for these next few weeks and get excited about meeting that beautiful babe of yours soon😊

I know... you've specifically ignored the part where I said SOME WOMEN CHOOSE TO HARVEST INSTEAD OF OFFERING FORMULA.

Personal choice... not blanket pressure.

I was moreso explaining to lots of seemingly uneducated people on this thread why people harvest colostrum.

I could never get a drop, yet successfully breastfed all of mine, and also successfully expressed post birth for one who was too sick to physically breastfeed. Will say I couldn’t express breastmilk with a hand pump though, but no issues with a hospital grade pump, not sure if there is any relation with that and my inability to harvest colostrum or not.

Billions of women have successfully breastfed babies without harvesting colostrum ‘just in case’.
I’d also advise against the current trend to express milk while you are trying to establish breast feeding so that your partner can help out with feeding and you get extra sleep. It’s just extra stress (and faff and expense) on top of everything else and if you were anything like me you’d wake up when the babies woke up regardless. If DP wants to help there will always be housework and cooking he can do.

How has the human species survived the millennia without this being a thing? Utter madness that it should even be considered 'just in case'. Even the word 'harvesting' in the context of women and babies is dystopian.

They have survived in formula... which many mothers would prefer not to use given the option.

Harvesting is just a word for collecting... like you collect bottles, clothes, nappies etc before baby arrives.

It's not essential... it's 100% optional.

I’ve never heard anyone say ‘I harvested some really cute newborn clothes’, have you?

Nope. Never heard anyone using harvesting for any of those things. Harvesting is for crops. It is an agricultural word for gathering, not an alternative word for going shopping.

We don't 'harvest' colostrum from dairy cows, yet here we are putting completely unnecessary pressure on expectant mothers, many of whom are already tying themselves in knots trying to be perfect. Beating themselves up because they can't breastfeed. And now we are introducing another layer of how to fail at motherhood. Get in the bin.

Twenty years ago this wasn't a thing. I had my baby, the colustrum was the first thing she ate, and then my milk came in. Breastfed with no problem for many months.

You'll be fine, OP. Don't put more pressure on yourself than you need to!

I never said going shopping.. did I? No!

Sorry, where are you getting the idea of pressure being put on anybody to harvest colostrum? Midwives ask are you planning to breastfeed, do you want these syringes and guidance on harvesting colostrum. If you say no, that's it. There's nobody pressuring anyone for goodness sake. It's completely optional
I've just outlined the reasons why some people choose to do it (and have repeatedly said that it doesn't affect breastfeeding and if the OP is stressed she just shouldn't do it).

ok you didn’t actually say shopping, but who says they are ‘collecting’ nappies? Harvest has a specific meaning of gathering food, or I suppose organs for donation.

If midwives are talking about colostrum harvesting and giving out equipment then there are clearly women who think they have do it, otherwise why mention it?

Totally agree with @YouAndMeDays it is yet another way that mothers are set up to fail.

My lactation consultant says she wishes this advice would die. She sees so many stressed mums who get nothing. It has no correlation with ability to breastfeed and your chances of needing it are tiny.

They give the equipment to mothers who say they wish to try. In the same way as formula fed baby is given formula by the hospitals.

The same way different pain relief are given in the hospital after discussions with the mother.

I never managed to get more than a literal drip before DS was born and I’m still BFing him now - he’ll be 2 in March. No bottle top ups or anything so I wouldn’t see it as a reason why it won’t work.

Definitely try and find a local BFing support group though. Mine is 100% the reason I was successful when I had tried and given up within a few weeks with DDs 1 and 2.

This feels like a post written to incite women to get mad about “yet another thing we’re supposed to feel guilty about”.

No actual real life woman is getting stressed about not producing breast milk, before the baby is even born?

OP, in the off chance this is real, you need to take a step back. Enjoy your last weeks of pregnancy by relaxing as much as you can. None of this matters as much as you think it does right now.

Another hand up as a parent whos radar this didn’t even feature on 14 years ago.
The only time colostrum harvesting was even mentioned was if my babies were premature (both threatened to erupt soon than advisable and both were tiny when born at 37+ weeks) and my OBGYN talked about collecting colostrum after they were born, not before.

Please don’t worry about it OP, human babies have survived this far without their mothers milking ourselves before they’ve even given birth.

No one harvests clothes or nappies, that’s a ridiculous thing to say.

Why? You don't need to do this OP.

Ok buddy

Exactly, every single word of this.

PP may not have specifically said 'shopping' but that is what most people do when they want nappies, bottles, formula etc. They aren't picking them off trees!

I got my bottles straight from the ground next to the potatoes.

You know exactly what I mean... you're making a big deal of one word (that I didn't even use) instead of actually helping educate people.

Very narrow minded

Didn't even try to get colostrum out before birth. EBF and fed for 2 years.