Expressing (or harvesting) some colostrum, the golden breastmilk you make in the early days after birth, before your baby arrives can be a brilliant way to build up a store just in case your baby needs it.
Do keep in mind that antenatal expression of milk is just for additional milk baby can receive during the early days… you will still need to work on latch and nurse on baby’s demand to establish breastfeeding.
Im so grateful to Maria for helping me write this article. She runs the page Milk Making Mama, which is filled with such useful breastfeeding tips!
Heres our guide to colostrum harvesting:
When to start?
💗generally it is not advised to start expressing milk before week 37 of pregnancy
💗speak to your midwife and obstetrician if they would advise you to express milk
Who should do it?
Any expectant mother can try to express her breast milk antenatally. Dont worry if you can’t get much out, especially if it is your first baby. This doesnt reflect whether or not you will have a successful breastfeeding journey!
Women who are most likely to benefit from harvesting colostrum are those who know their baby is at an increased risk of having a low blood sugar in the first few hours after birth.
When baby drops their blood sugar or struggles to feed, women may be encouraged to supplement breastfeeding with formula. If you already have a store of breastmilk, you can give this to your baby by a syringe instead, ensuring they receive this nutritious colostrum and avoiding the need for formula.
Women who may benefit from having a store of colostrum include:
- Women with diabetes in pregnancy (pre-existing or gestational).
- Infants diagnosed during the antenatal period with cleft lip and/or palate and congenital conditions.
- Mothers having an elective caesarean section.
- Infants with intrauterine growth restriction.
- Mothers with breast hypoplasia or who had previous breast surgery.
- Women with multiple sclerosis.
- Strong family history of dairy intolerance or inflammatory bowel disease.
- Mothers with high blood pressure.
- Mothers taking beta blockers (e.g. labetalol).
Who shouldnt express colostrum?
- History of threatened/ actual premature labour
- Cervical incompetence
- Multiple pregnancy (risk of preterm labour)
- Cervical stitch insitu
Why express colostrum?
It would be helpful if you have already expressed some of your breast milk, so that if your baby does need extra milk, this can be given to them instead of formula milk. The ideal time to prepare this is before your baby is born.
How do I do it?
💗To express it is best to use your hands as colostrum is so thick it would stick to the parts of the pump
💗You will simply need a sterilised cup or little bottle and a syringe
💗Cup your breast with your hand and feel back from the end of the nipple to where the texture of your breast feels different.
- Using your thumb and index finger gently squeeze this area. It should not hurt.
- Release the pressure then repeat again and again building up a rhythm. Avoid sliding your fingers over the skin.
- Milk should start to flow. The first milk, colostrum, is very concentrated. It is very thick and will come out of your breast drop by drop.
- If the milk does not flow try moving your fingers slightly toward the nipple or slightly further away to find the spot that works best for you.
- When the flow slows down move your fingers around the breast (like moving around the numbers on a clock face) so that you have expressed the milk from all the way around your breast.
- Express from the other breast.
More tips:
💗Collect the droplets of liquid gold in a cup or bottle and then draw them into a syringe or get somebody to help you draw the droplets that you express straight from your breast into the syringe
💗You can try to express twice a day in the morning and evening but don’t feel pressured
💗you can use the same syringe for one day if you draw from a sterilised cup, store in the fridge in between pumping and store in a milk storage bag and label, you can then store it in the freezer
💗Do make sure to inform your labour ward that you are planning to bring expressed colostrum so they can store it for you whilst you are in labour
For many who had a difficult breastfeeding journey antenatal expression of milk also brings a sense of control over so many emotions that come to surface when starting a new breastfeeding journey.