So who here has heard of antenatal expression of colostrum before?
….
That is what I thought. Very few. Which means it must be a little weird… But I’m doing it anyway.
So what is antenatal expression anyway?
Antenatal expression of colostrum is the practice of expressing your breast milk while pregnant.
Yep! I said it. I’m pumping while pregnant. As if my boobs won’t get enough of that over the next year or two, I thought I’d get a head start.
Why would anyone want to do it?
While I think for most women, expressing colostrum is a bit excessive, it is exceptionally helpful for others.
With my first 2 babies I had a very difficult time getting my milk to come in fast enough to keep my baby nourished. (Why this is, I’m still not entirely sure but it could have been do to poor diet, or hormonal issues) I was beyond exhausted and my babies were always hungry… So hungry that they would nurse all night and sleep very very little. Once I finally resorted to giving them a bottle they would fall asleep and we could both get some much needed rest.
This time I don’t want to have the fall back of formula. Which I could also talk in length about, and I’m sure one day I will, but until then let’s just say that formula often has ingredients that contain GMO’s. Formula also changes a babies gut flora, and it isn’t what mother nature intended for babies to use for nourishment.
And just to note, I have nothing against moms who do use it. I’ve been there and sometimes there is just no way around it.
In my search for herbs and foods that promote good milk supply I also found this little technique. Basically you start expressing and freezing your colostrum somewhere around 37 weeks. You express colostrum 3 times per day. This allows you to save up extra colostrum in case your baby needs supplementation, and it also helps prepare your body to be nursing.
Ultimately I’m choosing this due to having a low milk supply with past babies. But there are other reasons you may want to consider expressing your colostrum, which include having:
- Polycystic Ovarian Disease,
- Breast Hypoplasia,
- had a previous breast surgery,
- Multiple Sclerosis,
- experienced previous low milk supply,
- had diabetes during pregnancy.
- has a cleft lip and/or palate identified during pregnancy
- has cardiac complications, or other congenital conditions like Down syndrome,
- is diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction,
- is born prematurely.
Is it safe?
There isn’t a lot of research on the topic to be found. Most likely because supplementing with formula is so common and widely acceptable. The research is also controversial; researchers can’t agree upon whether it is safe or not.
Here is what I have found…
Nipple stimulation can help bring on labor by releasing oxytocin into the body. Therefore, it could induce labor. I wouldn’t play around with this too early in your pregnancy.
On the flip side orgasm releases more oxytocin than breast stimulation and is considered perfectly safe for most pregnancies. Another thing to consider is how common tandem nursing is throughout the world. It is not particularly common in America, but worldwide women continue to nurse their 2 or 3 year olds’ throughout pregnancy and then along side the new infant.
As far as safety goes it is really a personal decision. If expressing colostrum gives you contractions it probably should be reconsidered. And it would be wise to discuss it with you health care professional ahead of time.
If all is well and it works for you then the pleasure of having a stash of that liquid gold we call colostrum is yours to spoil your baby with and to put your mind at ease when you aren’t the momma with the sore boobs because of too much milk.
How do you express your colostrum?
I am using a simple breast pump, but you can also do it by hand. This link can show you how. I should warn you that it is graphic.
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Sources:Breastfeeding USA, Mater Mother’s Hospital
Huh! How interesting! I personally haven’t had any trouble with nursing (thank heaven!), but I do tend to have big babies and it’s just hard for them to get enough calories in the first few days with just colostrum. Maybe having some stashed before hand would make it so they wouldn’t have to be supplemented with formula before my milk came in!
I just wanted to let you know that you probably had enough milk for your babies. Babies who are breastfed are meant to be at the breast alot in the beginning. This is to create supply and demand. The more they’re at the breast the more milk you will produce. Any time you supplement you are taking a feed from the breast which will actually dwindle your milk supply. Breast milk is also utilized much more efficiently so they digest it faster than formula. While I don’t think it’s a bad idea to pump beforehand I don’t think it’s necessary at all. A newborn babies stomach is the size of cherry and their stomach volume holds up to about 2 tbs. At day 3 their stomach is the size of a walnut holding up to 1oz. At a week their stomach is the size of an apricot and holds up to 2oz. At a month their stomach is the size of a large egg and holds 2.5-5oz. Giving anything more than that by topping off with formula is stretching their stomach and not good for them. Trust that your body is doing what it’s made to do. If they’re having a good amount of pee and poop diapers they’re getting enough.
I’m piggy-backing here. I agree with everything Tiffany said. As a lactation professional I think there is a lot of misinformation in the world which makes it hard for moms. The key here is that doing this will *not* bring in the milk any faster after birth – that process physiologically cannot start until the placenta is delivered. Many of the drugs and fluids administered during birth play a role in delaying milk coming in, as does getting too little stimulation from nursing. So, this isn’t a bad idea but all it does for you is give you a little something to give them in the beginning, which if you do you should pump at the same time (every feeding away from the breast is a message to your body that you need less milk, so every supplemented feed should include a pumping session for mom) so I must say I’m not entirely sure that going to all this trouble during an already hectic time of life is helpful.
I do see that I’m commenting on an old post… I hope that birth went well and that breastfeeding is going wonderfully! Just wanted to share my 2 cents for anyone who happens upon this in the future 😉
Thanks Laura! I agree, this isn’t a solution for increasing milk supply. And in all honesty, this time around I didn’t need the extra colostrum I had pumped. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Oh and birth was great. The best part about pregnancy for me actually. 😉 Now my problem is figuring out how to stop breastfeeding… this mamma needs more sleep at night. Oy!
I saw this once in my postpartum unit as an LC, and was amazed at how much milk that mama had and how quickly her volumes were up. I know- anecdotal, but still. She claimed to have done it with all 4 of her children and had donated all of the extra.
I get the part about having enough for your own baby, but I feel that I want to be able to provide for at least one other child. I have three children that I tandem nursed- as in was still nursing the 4 year old when the youngest arrived, and am certain that I could produce a supply to that level again. I need to think about this some more and not get all hung up on physiology and what I think I know.
I am so glad I read this. I’m on baby #3.
My first two I was only able to breastfeed for about 4 months at the most. My daughter, I had emergency c-section. My son, I had a c-section and he had jaundice so they took him to NICU and fed him formula so he barely got to nurse with me for the first 4-5 days, and so with my son whom I’m pregnant with now, I want to have colostrum stored in case this baby has jaundice as well since this is my husband and I’s baby together as my 1st son. Docs say it’s very likely he will have it. I didn’t find out about I should’ve been able to breastfeed him whether he was in NICU or not and the formula wasn’t the best thing for him and he may have not had to stay in the hospital all those extra days if I had nursed. SO I want to be prepared. I am 37 weeks and I plan on started to express next week. I’m going in for c-section July 22nd. Thank you for your words of encouragement to express prior to delivery.
I am currently hand expressing, having started during week 39, and now at week 41. I did it because I liked the idea of having frozen colostrum available in case my baby was provided with formula while away from me during my time in the hospital.
But you know what’s even better? I’m about to be a first time Mum, and I was really worked up about being able, or unable to breast feed. I knew I really wanted to do it, but I also had heard over and over again about the women that CAN’T do it (for whatever reasons).
Having learnt how to hand express was weird for me in the beginning. I wasn’t comfortable ‘fiddling’ with my body. But to see that I could control my production of colostrum amazed me! I can get so much of it! I know how to get it out, and it makes me feel so confident that I will have the right skills to breast feed my baby. I now understand where the latch should form, and how my boobs work. Where the milk is, and how to get the best flow etc.
Now I’ve collected ounces and ounces -since I didn’t know I’d be waiting for baby for so long. Who knows? Will I end up pitching most of it in the garbage? (Or feeding it to street cats -hahaha!) whatever happens, it was such a brilliantly valuable lesson to learn about my body, my breasts and my future decision to breast feed.
You could always donate to a milk bank. They would love to have it. 🙂
I just wanted to say I will be doing this for my next pregnancy. My breasts didn’t change at all during my first, everyone told me they would when my milk came in. I had tubular breasts but my doctor seemed to not be concerned. The baby was born, latched well, seemed to be feeding fine until our 4 day appointment. She had lost a pound! She was 1oz from being hospitalized! So I decided to pump and nurse. I NEVER Produced more than 2oz A DAY. Those women who pump 8 oz merrily attached to a pump for 30 min didn’t live in my nightmare world. An hour with each breast and I barely produced .25oz.
That’s when I did my research, breast hypoplasia became my new label. I pumped for 3 months when my supply went from 2oz a day to .25oz a day. My baby started out eating over 65ml every 2 hours, that’s the level of a two week old not a newborn! I may have not had enough even if I didn’t have a supply problem. When I stopped pumping is when my breasts changed shape, the ducts bloomed, the space between be went from 6 inches apart to 3 inches apart, and they got fuller. Normally hypoplasia is just a problem with the first. 8 months after stopping pumping I leak more milk then I ever had, the LC was because my milk duct are still maturing. So next pregnancy for sure I am pumping before birth.
I agree that for some women this is a life saver…with my first son due to the vaccinations and having him circumsized he slept for almost two days straight after birth….he was not coherent enough to suck at that time and i had very pushy recover nurses who were damn right out of line….every time i got a good latch they would come in and tell me i was doing it wrong and grab the baby from me to reposition him to the hold they believed was Right…….when we were discharged I knew he was turning yellow and by our second day home he was orange and had stopped peeing and pooping altogether. …i called every doctor they assured me everything was ok and i was making enough for him……i knew they were wrong and brought my son to the er that day….good thing i did bc he had lost 40 % of his body weight and was near death in the 3rd stage of dehydration. …soo when people say that all women make enough i am furious that is a pure lie. ….i will be pre pumping at 37 weeks and pumping religiously after i deliver after every time I feed the baby docs dont know everything if i had listened to them my son would be dead
Your story is unbelievable! I’m so glad you had the sense to take your dear baby to the ER.
It is so exciting to hear of someone with a similar story! Because of PCOS, my body didn’t have the mammary tissue necessary for supporting lactation and I didn’t even start producing colostrum until a few days after my first son was born. Even once my milk “came in” ten days later I never produced more than a few ounces a day, even with every supplement known to man, nursing almost nonstop, supplementing at the breast, and pumping after every nursing session. This time around, my hormones have been very different, so I’m hoping breastfeeding isn’t so difficult, but I am going to try this out to help get my colostrum production happening earlier and to have a little extra (hopefully!) to supplement with! Good luck!
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this post! I’m due in June with a baby that has been diagnosed with cleft lip and palate. This is my first and I was so set on breastfeeding but may have to pump only. I was wondering what would happen in the hospital if she couldn’t breastfeed and I couldn’t produce enough colostrum. I know they won’t let cleft babies go home until they’re feeding regularly. I’m definitely going to start pumping before I have her! Thank you!!
I think ‘pumping’ colostrum would be hard on your nips. Try hand expression. It’s a breeze, and really helps you get to know your body -which is useful when you and your baby are trying to learn the latch!
Pumping can be hard on the nips but if you massage them in the shower in your second trimester then you should be fine. I would daily massage them in the 2nd n pump in the third and never had a problem with tenderness even after my son was born
This may sound weird, but how do you store the expressed colostrum? With my daughter I never had much colostrum before she was born – just a few drops. I plan on expressing before my newest little one arrives, but I’m truly stumped about how to store mere drops of liquid gold!
You can just use breast pump bags.
I’m 31 weeks pregnant. Is this too soon for me to hand pump or anything. My breast leak so much. It first started only when I took hot showers, now I can be driving and I’ll look down and have a huge pool of wetness around my nipples. I do stimulate them in the tub because they are so sore at times and very heavy. This is my third baby. But I’ve always been hectic to do this. Please help!
It sounds to me like milk production isn’t a problem for you. I would stock up on breast pads and use a warm compress when sore, but stimulation may make the problem worse not better. I’d also say that taking to your health care provider would be a good idea. Perhaps they will have more helpful tips. ALthough soreness is no fun, consider yourself blessed! Your baby will have plenty of nourishment. 🙂
I went to my check up today and he offered nursing pads as well, but skewing with a bra on is not so comfortable but I’m going to try it out. Thanks 🙂
I was told by my health care provider and obgyn not to use a hand or electric pump because this could stimulate contractions. Best to ask your doctor first.
Hi, I also struggled with production of milk output with my first born 5 years ago. She was born at 6lbs 6oz our first check up we learned she lost over 1lbs weighing in at just over 5lbs. We tried all steps at that time to help with breastfeeding but between exhaustion and stress of my baby starving we introduced formula. To this day I’m still saddened by it. I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and my doctor just adviced me to try collecting and freezing colostrum by hand expressing. Today is day three of trying and all I seem to be getting is 2.5 Mls if I am lucky. I’m reading and watching all these videos of woman who are able to collect a big amount and it has me concerned I will be struggling yet again with production. Does anyone know what a normal amount of colostrum collected while pregnant would be ? My searches come up empty or more confused. Please help.
I think everyone is different. Don’t get discouraged. It may be helpful now and after your baby is born to consistently add soaked oatmeal like this: nhttp://ohlardy.com/soaked-oatmeal-breakfast/ to your breakfast. The more frequently you eat it the more it will help boost your milk supply. I also recommend Mother’s Milk Tea. You can get it here: http://amzn.to/1lTgyZf … Good luck! Nursing can be so much more difficult than it should be.
2.5 ml how often? I got about 1-3 ml per day when I was expressing when I was 37 and 38 weeks pregnant. My daughter has cleft lip and palate and can’t nurse, and I was expressing knowing that she likely wouldn’t be able to nurse. She can’t latch so I’ve been pumping exclusively for over 7 months now and get 30-34 oz per day. Just keep at it. If your supply is really suffering, there’s always oatmeal, mother’s milk tea, and even medications your obgyn can prescribe.
2.5 Mls is all I’m getting a day, on top of sore boobs & growing frustration. I feel it’s pointless to even freeze such a small amount. Thank you ladies for the tips I will defiantly look into them.
2.5ml is normal! That’s half a teaspoon, which is approximately one serving of colostrum for a newborn. You can collect it with a small cup and/or syringe and then freeze the syringe. Don’t get too frustrated.
I thought the colostrum wasn’t created until the hormones from labor go in to affect which is why some people with a scheduled c section have trouble starting breast feeding?
Most women get colostrum before birth, sometimes a couple of months before. It is the actual milk supply that struggles with a scheduled c-section.
Thanks for posting this article! I’ve been scouring the internet for info. My midwife, doula, and a la leche league leader I’ve spoken with have all told me the same thing- there isn’t enough research, follow your instincts, and stop if you feel cramps or contractions. I’m only 27 weeks, but I’m producing colostrum and have been at a loss for how to proceed. My husband and I decided since I’ve been hand expressing anyway without realizing it initially (I was just trying to relieve breast and nipple aches and pains) that we should start collecting the colostrum and save it in case baby might need it. Starting this early, I can only assume we will have quite the stash by the time baby arrives. My hope is that we won’t need it and that this is just an exercise in confidence-building and getting my husband involved early in his role supporting the nursing process. I appreciate the dialogue on the subject though and do intend to proceed with caution, but for me hand expressing the colostrum is such a relief I can’t imagine ignoring it and not doing it. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one.
I am so happy I came across this.. I am 31 weeks and in so much pain from in my boobs and so heavy.. I have started leaking some days not so much as other but figured if it’s good for the baby I needed to save it 🙂
Very interesting article and comments. I am 39.5 weeks and started pumping yesterday to try and bring on labor. My body made 1/2 ounce of colostrum in 15 minutes of electric breast pumping on the low level – I am going to hold onto this and bring it to the hospital with me on my induction date – any other suggestions on how to proceed?