Does breasts get engorged with milk before or after the birth?

With my first baby I thought my breast were engorged and full of milk before bub was born? But my boobs are looking quite flat and not even leaking much colostrum, which has me worrying that I might have a bad suply of milk with this bub? Can anyone give me advice as to whether they had their milk supply (full breasts) before the birth, or did they become engorged after the birth? and if so, how long after bub was born did the milk come in? Is it a matter of hours...days of weeks? I just wanna be prepared with formula incase I dont have much milk this time round :-S

Most mums find that they don't get that really engorged feeling until after bubs is born, so try not to worry too much about how you are feeling right now! Some mums, like me, have never had that really full-to-exploding, leaking everywhere type feeling! Every woman is different and every pregnancy is different. Maybe I'll get it this time around :)

Generally you produce small amounts of colostrum before birth, which the baby feeds on right after birth. It is the separation of the placenta (after birth) and the baby suckling that tell your body to start producing more and to changeover to the more mature breast milk.

As for when that happens - well, again, it is different for every woman. A friend of mine recently had her second bub and he fed fed fed sucked sucked sucked for almost two days straight and her milk came in at 48hrs. Mine, on the other hand, is more like 5 days, or it has been with both my kiddies.

It can be anything from 48hrs up to a week! But don't despair and don't be too quick to break out the formula - your milk WILL come in, eventually. And you don't need to do anything while you are waiting, apart from giving baby free access to the breast. They might be unsettled while they are working to get your milk to come in but that's ok - lots of cuddles, boob time, and it will all happen.

Don't forget you can call the Australian Breastfeeding Association's 24 hour a day helpline on 1800 62 68 62 whenever you need a bit of extra reassurance!

I have been breastfeeding pretty much non stop since my now 10yr old was born. With each new bub I was unable to express milk prior the birth. I still had milk as the older one was still feeding or had only stopped a month before hand. But you would never have guessed it. For me, my milk came in AFTER the birth just as it did the first time.

I wouldn't be concerned :)

Thankyou ladies! I very much appreciate the help and advice. I breastfed my first baby and found that my boobs became over engorged and he wasnt able to get much out, it would also give me extreme pain when I did try feed him... the nurses kept pushing me to breastfeed, but it was so painful so I gave up and started to express using a manual avent breast pump, but after a month my milk dwindled and ended up stopping. When my son was about three months old, they found he had a tongue tie (which was never picked up by any doctor or nurse earlier!)... That ended up being the reason for the painful breastfeeding experience! Do you think if I chose to express this time round my milk supply will dwindle again...Can expressing using a pump cause the milk supply to stop?

Ok, if you became engorged, there are ways to treat that - it is really common, many mothers find it happens to them. You can manage it to help relieve the pain and make it easier for baby to attach when they feed. If you find that the midwives this time aren't being helpful, pop on here and ask for advice, or ring the helpline I gave you above. Expressing using a pump can help initially but it doesn't need to be the final result. Engorgement is natural as your body produces milk and tries to produce the right amount for your baby. It can take some time for what you are producing to match what baby wants, so engorgement might not go away immediately, hence needing to manage it and make sure you're handling it the right way.

Having said that, it might not even happen this time. You might not need to pump at all! And your little one might not be tongue tied. But if you are worried, at least this time you know to ask the midwife or doctor to check for tongue tie.

Try not to worry about the "What if.."s and just focus on having your beautiful baby!

If you do choose to express full time, your milk supply will not necessarily dwindle, but expressing full time is a hard path to walk - you need to be committed to making it work. There is a long term expressers thread on here, but to be honest, I think most mums who express for any length of time will tell you it is much easier to breastfeed, if you are able. Of course if there are reasons that the breastfeeding road isn't for you, then expressing is a wonderful alternative. But if you can breastfeed, try that.

We will all support you :hug: