Colostrum

I got hardly anything the first time but more each time I tried 😊 make sure you pick a time you are relaxed and try a warm compress on your boob before you start. Make sure you're well hydrated too! I used to get more really late in the evening so I don't know if the time of day makes any difference or not 🤷 and you don't need loads anything is beneficial I only needed 5ml for my baby's first feed as they were sleepy and didn't latch right away x

Echoing what Leah said! A warm bath can be an alternative to a compress too. You can also massage the breast starting from the armpit all the way towards the nipple, then the expressing itself is best as a C-shape cup near the outer edge of the areola. Try a few different angles if one isn’t yielding anything. It would take me around 20-30mins to fill a 1ml syringe.

It’s advised to stick with hand expressing for colostrum as there’s usually so little and it’s stickier than milk so a pump isn’t worthwhile

I pumped with my last baby i got plenty out, although it did take a good few days to getting a beneficial amount. Also im type 1 diabetic 😉

I would hand express after a shower! It felt like nothing at first and increased over time (some days it was randomly less however; no idea why) I had understood that pumping before birth was discouraged since it could apparently induce labor. But it sounds like a lot of people do it without incident.

I know hand expression is the best 👌