Colostrum harvesting
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The amount of colostrum you produce won’t correlate to how much milk you produce so don’t worry about that. If you’re past 37 weeks I’d suggest trying with a manual pump if you want to build your colostrum supply, but it’s not essential. As soon as you’ve had the baby you’ll go through a massive hormone shift which will kickstart your colostrum production anyway & then your milk comes in after 3-5 days usually. Try not to worry!
There is no correlation between how much colostrum you can collect when pregnant and the success of breastfeeding. You can look up the DAME trial for the stats but this is the study that found no difference between women who got loads of colostrum and women who go none at all before baby was born
These things can happen for some people but normally colostrum is produced once the baby and placenta are delivered as that triggers it to start. I have the same size as you I’ve had 2 baby’s and never seen a drop of colostrum but breastfed just fine. I’m 39 weeks with the 3rd baby and again no colostrum whatsoever comes out.
I’ve been assured that colostrum pre-birth doesn’t correlate in any way with success in breastfeeding 😊
I’m the same! I can’t manage to get any out no matter how hard I try. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t, as long as baby is healthy and happy when they’re here that’s all that matters xx
as everyone else has said, it really won't affect your breastfeeding journey. also just to add, having big boobs won't either! i've got bloody massive boobs and i'm still breastfeeding my toddler and we had the easiest start to breastfeeding that i could have imagined xx
Can I ask your technique? The idea is to squeeze gently just as the edge of the areola. You will see a drop or 2, not a stream
I have larger breasts (currently 36JJ) I found the techniques don’t work as my boobs are heavy and trying to do the C grip like on the leaflet and videos doesn’t work Instead I put a towel under my boobs to lift them slightly and then just do the C grip but don’t lift just press inwards and pinch together. I can’t see my nipples so use a mirror lol I’ve only got 3 syringes with 0.1mg in but it comes slowly and I’m happy with that 😊
Don’t worry about it, the amount of colostrum you are able to collect before birth has no indication of your breastfeeding ability. Try not to stress about it, you can try every day, maybe it will come, but feel free to just let it go. It comes handy if baby won’t latch or you have problems with breastfeeding at the beginning, but having no success with harvesting doesn’t mean you won’t be able to breastfeed your baby :)