For those who didn't manage to get Colostrum before they gave birth, what did you do once your baby arrived at the hospital?

Whether or not you’re able to collect colostrum before birth has no bearing on your ability to breastfeed if that’s what you’d like to do.

I had colostrum immediately after giving birth. It’s so nutrient rich, that it’s all that’s needed until milk comes in. My milk came in 3 days after birth with both my kids.

I didn’t manage to collect any and just breastfed as normal from a couple hours after birth, there’s no milk for a few days but the colostrum you have in your boobs is enough

Don’t supplement with formula if your planning to BF as it will harm your supply x

I didn't manage to collect any before my son was born but he just fed from breast as needed until milk came. It comes much easier when babe is actually latched than it does when trying to hand express

If breastfeeding is your goal then you don’t need to give formula. Just put baby to breast ideally within an hour of being born and continue to put baby to breast for every feed in order to build/establish your milk supply.

Thank you all for your answers. I'm due this week but haven't had any colostrum coming out , so have convinced myself I won't have any colostrum coming out when my baby is born.

I would prefer to avoid using formula so I will try and breastfeed in hopes my baby will be able to get some.

Thank you all x

You only need expressed colostrum if there is some kind of complication. The birth itself triggers your milk supply, what you produce during pregnancy is not an indication of your supply after birth. You should produce colostrum for baby and after a few days your full 'milk will come in'. The colostrum is more than enough for them until then as they only have small tummies. Skin to skin and latching baby as much as possible is the best way to help your supply.

If there are issues like getting baby to latch there are still alternatives to formula like hand expressing after birth/ using a pump. I did this with my first until I got him onto the breast, he had tongue tie and I was struggling to get him to latch.

I had my baby at 28 weeks and got colostrum the same day. She had expressed breast milk for 5.5 months (never got the hang of actually breastfeeding her)

I just breastfed and she actually latched within 5 minutes of birth

For my both babies Inhadnt colostrum before giving birth. It came when baby started nursing! Don’t worry ! Human body is well made trust the nature !!
What was hard for me for my 1st was the milk to come after the colostrum, so I completed a bit with formula while pumping and pumping and breastfeeding breastfeeding as much as possible and since then I had more than enough, I EBF my 1st since his 1st week. And for my 2nd same no colostrum but as soon as she was born I had and this time milk came fast

You know what, even women who never was pregnant can breastfeed !!! There are a special « training » for women who foster a baby for example in my hospital !
So don’t worry :)
If you have difficulties, don’t wait and get help by a lactation consultant. Breastfeeding is always possible if you really want to, but you need support and right advices
I don’t think I would have been able to breastfeed if I hadn’t have access to a lactation consultant at the hospital, I was so lost

Breastfed as normal! You don’t need to collect colostrum, it’s just an added bonus.

Keep in mind that when you give birth it triggers your colostrum and then your milk comes a few days later their stomachs are tiny and need like half an oz of colostrum a feed but also they feed lots. You dont actually need to collect in advance and it is not an indication of if you have a supply.

The benefit of breastfeeding is you dont need to think about if theyre getting enough...trust that your body is doing what its supposed to do. Once you give birth you can hand express (get your partner to do it its so painful) and syringe feed if they struggle to latch.

Don’t stress ❤️ I still have every drop of colostrum I harvested and my baby is now 6 months, we just didn’t need to use it at all - it’s really not a necessity and a nice to have for a small percentage of situations but absolutely not something you should be stressing or feeling guilty about and it will come when baby is born ready for them to take themselves or you can hand express after birth if for whatever reason you do get separated from baby! They need a TINY amount from your breast the first few days no need to supplement☺️

As mentioned already, having colostrum expressed is helpful if you and baby have to be separated. If you have difficulty feeding then you can hand express after birth! But hopefully baby will latch and feed just fine. Not getting colostrum before birth is not an indication on your ability to breastfeed in the slightest. I highly recommend doing an antenatal breastfeeding course before birth just to be prepared. But choose one by a breastfeeding organization and not just from your local midwives!

For my 1st no, because the 2nd night he couldn’t stop crying and crying so the nurses gave us formula to complete.
I also had a C-section so didn’t helped to put in place my supply !

For my 2nd it was special bc she was in the NICU the 1st week :/ so I had to put the colostrum in a tube to give to NICU. If not enough they were completing with formula but they didn’t have to as I had more than enough !

Don’t stress, you will know if your baby has enough, he won’t stop crying even if he’s clean, and just being fed. If you complete with formula the first days it’s ok, it doesn’t mean breastfeeding is over ! Just keep always at first put your baby in your breast then complete, the body is well done : as much as you send the signal that he needs to produce (=breastfeeding baby or pumping), the more you will produce !
And hopefully you will have the nurses to help you I hope so !