Harvesting Colostrum
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I’m starting next week at 37 weeks
If it is leaking then you can collect but it is not recommended to start stimulating and hand expressing until 37 weeks x
I have tried current 37 weeks and have felt cramps after stimulating the breast nipple I’m scared that it might induce labour but I really want to!
I had a feeding class yesterday that said dont start till 36 x
Research shows that nipple stimulation is pretty much the only way to encourage labour (everything else is basically no better than doing nothing at all), but even then it's not particularly reliable especially if you're not already close to going into labour anyway. Upshot of that is that harvesting colostrum is unlikely to induce preterm labour, but isn't recommended since there is still a small chance. Really it comes down to how risk-averse you are
Thank you for all of your responses ladies! ☺️
No as recommended to wait till 36/37 weeks as can bring on labour. I have had leaking since about 20 weeks and it is definitely tempting to squeeze and collect.