Leaking colostrum... Should I pump & freeze?

[Jessikah27]

Hi guys,

I am exactly 38 weeks today and have noticed a big change in my boobs! The fluid is now yellow so I am assuming it is colostrum and has gone from a few small drops to saturating my bras! A few quick questions.... Does this mean labour may be close or is it just a normal change is late in pregnancy and should I use my breast pump and freeze it for when bubs is born? If so, do I freeze it in syringes as a plan to breast feed! Thank in advance!

[TeniBear]

I'm not sure about pumping, because the nipple stimulation might help trigger labour (on the other hand, maybe that's something you might want to happen!), but if you want to, collecting what's coming out won't do any harm And yes, syringes are the way to go - not much comes out for the first few days after birth, so you really don't need much at all. I actually syringe-fed my daughter for the first couple of days because we weren't getting the hang of breastfeeding, and we ended up succeeding because I had that other way to get the milk in her. We've just gone two and a half years, so I think you can call that a very successful breastfeeding relationship

[Santosha]

My midwife says she recommends all her Mums hand express and freeze colostrum from 38 weeks as a 'just in case' measure. She's had a few bubs that have struggled to latch at first, had low blood-sugars etc and the hospital has pushed for formula supplementing, even when Mum was reluctant and needed more time for her milk to come in. She said that since she's started to recommend this that all her bubs have left hospital without this being an issue as Mum has had a good frozen stash to supp with.

Whilst nipple stimulation might trigger Brixton Hicks, it'll only hurry things along /start labour if your body's actually ready anyway. If it actually triggered labour in it's own right, well there'd be a heck of a lot of women at 39/40/41 weeks determinedly playing with their boobs right now!

[Frangipani Lou]

Go for it! Hand expressing Into a syringe is the way to go. You can pump into the same syringe and fill it up over a day, pop it in a snap lock bag, label and freeze it. I user mine for DD when she had a cold and it defiantly helped.
I expressed up to 4 times a day and got 25ml in 2 weeks which was good considering I have low supply.

[onthefly]

You can if you want to. If it's easy and no trouble to you, then go ahead. I wouldn't stress about it if it doesn't work, however. Babies vary rarely need it.

[TeniBear]

Whilst nipple stimulation might trigger Brixton Hicks, it'll only hurry things along /start labour if your body's actually ready anyway. If it actually triggered labour in it's own right, well there'd be a heck of a lot of women at 39/40/41 weeks determinedly playing with their boobs right now!

I meant to come back and say that, but DD distracted me Yes, don't rely on it as an induction technique. I just wanted to address that *sometimes* the stimulation can help kick things off or help things along

[lady_neon]

You could also donate it.

[*beannaithe*]

My syringes of colostrum were the difference between not needing any formula at all and needing formula. So if its there, go for it!!!

[HotI]

if you do decide to store it, don't stress about having to give it back to baby. if bub is feeding well after the birth, let her feed and get all the colostrum she wants at the breast. this helps being your milk in and provide all the other benefits of suckling and skin to skin. think of it more of an insurance policy, in case you need it.

[jellybean88]

I started collecting colostrum at 37 weeks and froze it in syringes I only hand expressed because that's more effective than a pump with the colostrum being thicker
In the end I only needed to use 2 syringes in hospital and still had 20 left over I just gave it to dd and ds when they got sick as an immune boost because dd was feeding fine
It can't hurt to have it there freeze in syringes and label your name and date collected so you use the older ones first I took 10 to hospital in an eesky with. I've pack , prob good to ask your hospital what they do with it (mine put it I'm the freezer until I was moved to my room then it stayed in my freezer )