Colostrum - struggling

I’ve been trying to collect colostrum and it’s really starting to stress me out.

My left boob I’ve achieved nothing. My right boob is get the smallest possible single drop but it is just too watery, can’t even collect it because it’s that small and that watery.

I really want to breastfeed but this is making me feel like I’m not going to be able to produce anything & I’m definitely going to have no colostrum to take as back up to the hospital

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Ive also been struggling, I managed to collect about 0.5ml but nothing since😩 I dont think it has any correlation to how much milk you will produce and I think the midwives will help you once you've given birth x

I agree there’s not a correlation! It takes practice and patience. Have a warm bath or shower first and massage your breasts for a good 20 minutes before trying. I always had one better side, I think that’s quite common. In the lead up to having my son I tried to do it around the same time every evening. For me, it was normal for my boobs to feel a bit battered by the time I was done 😅 the more you do it, the more you’ll get. Everyone starts off small 🥰 x

Also to add, I didn’t take any to the hospital with me as I forgot, my son was taken straight to the nicu from birth and the nicu sent me up syringes to collect some from the recovery ward, so even if you feel like now you aren’t going to have anything, there’s time! Once you give birth your body reacts differently x

I found these two accounts extremely helpful with breastfeeding and both have posts on colostrum harvesting.

https://www.instagram.com/olivia_lactation_consultant?igsh=MTExcGs2b3o0dzI4cA==&igsi=MTExcGs2b3o0dzI4cA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChhABCWI5Qc/?igsh=MXg1amZyaDRzdTYw&igsi=MXg1amZyaDRzdTYw

Try and relax whilst doing it after a warm shower by watching a relaxing romcom or something. But don’t worry if it’s tricky. There’s a bit of a knack to it and I think the maximum I ever collected in one session was half a syringe.
And if it reassures you I never actually used the colostrum I harvested for my previous babies and I successfully breastfed both of them for as long as I wanted to. The syringes are still sat in my freezer!

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