GD - Formula top-ups after birth

[BellyBelly]

I have been speaking to someone lately who gave me a good tip for those with GD. Apparently when you give birth, they are concerned about baby's blood sugar levels, so they tell mums that the babies need to have formula since their milk hasn't come in. So to avoid that, the tip I was given was to have mums do some nipple stimulation or pump before the birth to help the milk come in sooner, so you can breastfeed instead of formula feed in those early days.

[Tobily]

Oh yeah I got this from every second midwife in Special care when Emily was born.
Luckily I was able to express heaps of colostrum from day one so she mostly had that. She was also jaundiced so that in combo with the GD meant they were really on my back about it. She had one bottle of formula on her second night in the nursery but luckily my milk came in the next day.
Will keep that tip in mind....but the BH's would be killer! LOL.

[lovemybubs]

Well, I was told a number of times that I should try to express anything i could to give to the baby after the birth. Its not always possible tho, in hospital i went thru a lot of pumping and my milk still didnt come in properly untill about 2 weeks later- by which time she was on formula.

[BellyBelly]

But if you do it before the birth, helps milk to come in faster as you have already started, not to mention helping to stimulate labour as its unfortunate that there is immense pressure to induce once you have GD.

[lovemybubs]

Kelly,

I did do it for 2 weeks before birth with a hand pump (also did nipple stimulation in the hope of bringing the little one on) and then when i went into hospital i went thru a routine of trying to feed and "expressing" with the electric pump and still nothing (well, not nothing, i did manage a total of 30 mls one day in hossy).

Im sure it works for most ppl tho, as the midwives swear by it and there is a lot a pressure to do it. And I would also recommend anyone with GD to try to get some milk ready, especialy if you think your going to be crushed if they have to feed your baby formula. I guess I was ok with it because i tried. It was formula or nothing.

[BellyBelly]

Awwww emz - well done for giving it your very best shot. It must have been a tough decison. *hugs*

[lovemybubs]

No need for hugs Kelly, it wasn't a tough decision at all.... formula or let my baby starve? It was actually incredibly easy to make.... as you would expect.

[BellyBelly]

Great stuff. Even better

/takes hugs back LOL

[~shazz~]

i wish i had been told about this by my midwives i was under incredible stress after ryan was born to get my milk in QUICK my problem though was he had no idea how to suck and after 3 continous hours of nurses holding and squeezing my poor battered boobies we finally got him to suck but it was to little to late as they had already inserted a N/G tube and were tube feeding him i was gutted that i couldn't feed him for those first few days but i am happy now that after our rocky start 4 months on we are still going strong with breastfeeding

[Mel09]

- A few quick questions.... With expressing before birth -

After I have a bath or shower I tend to 'check' the stat of my boobs and always get a bit of colostrum, if I keep going I get more but didn't want to waste it!! I don't think that I will have a shortage (i hope anyway).

Should you do it a few times a day?

Is electric breast pump ok?

If I start now... is that ok?

What should I do wiuth the colostrum?

[melbel]

I can't answer the when question for you Mel but definitely start storing it. They can use it to treat a low blood sugar instead of formula......My friend is about to give birth to number 2 and she ahs been storing since about 36 weeks. Also you can insist they don't feed bubs with an n/g tube or a bottle......with her no.1 bub the nurse at frances perry house showed her how to feed with a teaspoon at the same time as using the little finger inside the mouth to stimulate the baby's suckling reflex......it makes them work a bit harder for their milk and makes transition to the breast so much easier. She breast fed successfully till 8 months when timothy decided he'd had enough and wnated to explore the world!!

[Baby~amore`]

not directly related but if you give birth prematurely and have emergency c/s -you don't get a choice about NG tube feeds (before you have any milk) Some bubs they are not strong or well enough to suck and it will tire them so they won't let you even try. It is not so much a choice for a sick baby.

It is great advice though.

Mel - the lactation consultant I saw said not to start nipple stimulation till 37wks - because can stimulate labour. You are close now. Get a clean sterilised container and freeze what you collect, you can add top ups as soon as they are cooled (after 1hr I think) - but with bubs they start them on small amounts according to weight/day after birth ... so 1 day old might have say approx from 40mls 3hrly, then next day a little more.

I think it started at approx 140mls per kilo per day /divided by number of feeds. Then next day was 150mls per kilo per day and so on.
Bubs with low blood sugar might have more - jaundice bubs do.

I would ask LC how many times a day - I am not sure before birth ?

But I read someone else say with twins she expected to have them early so she started collecting her colostrum - expressing every few hours.The post said the nurses congrated her smart thinking.

So better to freeze in smaller amounts rather than larger - once they defrost under warm water they can't reuse it.Keep airtight. Remember to take to hospital with you. Goodluck !

[Visitor9]

I also had feeding issues with DD due to GD, taking into consideration it is hard to pinpoint what the exact problem was as so many came into play resulting in ngt feeds due to being undeveloped although overweight at 37 weeks.
I had a lac consult with me during my first 16 hrs post birth and had alot of colostum but as bubs developed jaundice and tiredness of feeding she dropped off and consequently my milk supply. I have had prev losses due to PROM PTL so the thought of any stimulation would frighten me.
I wish however I got on a pump in between feeds in the early days as 2 mls was measured on an electric pump 8 days post labour in an hr time frame.
Bec

[melbel]

maybe you could freeze it in an ice cube maker that has a lid...that way they could just defrost what they need...just a thought.

And yeah I just realised my friend was being induced at 38 weeks so you're probably spot on there with the three weeks before thing Trish.

[Mel09]

Thanks heaps guys...

I will start collecting then... Not a lot come out though when I do it by hand... will try the BP...

Bec - Sorry for your losses, but just curious as to what PROM PTL is... (and thanks for the advice too!)

[Visitor9]

PROM is prem rupture of membranes and PTL is pre term labour, every little bit counts Mel good luck
Bec

[Rouge]

Just out of curiosity, could they do the line feed thing in sitations like this? Where they have a tiny tube thats taped to your breast so that babies are still getting milk, but think its breastfeeding? Not only would it help your milk come in but it still means they are getting something iykwim? I just know if it were me in that situaiton even if I had to have formula top ups I'd want to try and establish bf'ing at a later date if I could?

We did line feeding with Paris when my milk started to diminish due to being told to formula feed by a paed (wrong decision but I didn't know any better at the time!) it would have helped was it not too late, unfortunately as Paris was older and we had been trying to establish feeding for a month or so (after her feeding fine for a month) she was quite pshychologically affected and couldn't be held in the nursing position wihtout her screaming Which was awful for me. The saddest day was when our LC told us she thought it was best for Paris that we stop trying. I continued Expressing as long as I could and I certainly don't regret anything as she needed to feed But I just know if I had supply issues early on, I would want to have the opportunity to exhaust all avenues iykwim? Especially now knowing how wonderful it is to continue BF'ing as I have done with Seth. And also as I have PCOS I have been VERY close to GD, so I'm hoping I won't have it in a future pregnancy but I can't rule it out. So it would be good to know my options if that were the case.

*hugs*
Cailin