3rd tri moms who will be breastfeeding..or not..

[MommyMoore503]

Last night I attended a great breastfeeding course here in Portland, Or. Since I was unable to BF my first two girlies due to a prolactin suppressing medication I am really looking forward to giving it a go this time. I've really gone through some personal hoops just trying to get comfortable with the idea of a baby on my boob but now that's I've gotten over the initial awkwardness of the idea I'm really looking to do the absolute best for my LO this time, even if I don't end up with a desirable milk supply or have unforeseen troubles hormonally. That being said, I learned about the importance of collecting and storing colostrum prior to LO being born.
Below is an article about the process of hand expressing to collect colostrum to give our LO's off to the very best start. Even if you'll be formula feeding you can still give them your 'liquid gold' to give their immune system a great boost. Anyway, just thought I'd share. I gave it a go today and collected 3 ml in a syringe. I'll be adding more to it. Just so excited learning about this that I couldn't help but share!!


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In July 2007, at the International Lactation Consultants Association annual conference, Sue Cox, RM, AM, IBCLC presented a fascinating lecture entitled Preterm Expression and Storage of Colostrum: A Positive Step for Mothers and Neonates?

Here is an overview of her presentation.

Through the ages women were encouraged to regularly remove colostrum from their breasts during pregnancy. In the late 1970's the medical community became concerned that nipple stimulation, which causes the release of oxytocin, might cause premature labor. This is not supported in the medical literature. In fact many authors that wrote about pregnancy care supported and/or suggested daily removal of colostrum...

30 to 110 minutes of nipple stimulation:

Have shown ripening of the cervix, if term.

Have not shown significant effects in:

• inducing labor
• altering the length of labor
• alterations in fetal outcome



Hand expressing before delivery increases your confidence that you can make milk. It also teaches you this very important skill before your baby arrives. Handling your breasts will help you to become more comfortable with your body before you and baby start to breastfeed.

Diana West, RN, IBCLC talks about expressing colostrum prenatally in her ILCA 2008 presentation "New Methods of Increasing Milk Production."

■Begin expressing at around 35 weeks
■Express right after a warm shower
■If you experience uterine cramping, stop expressing
■Draw up your drops of colostrum with a periodontal syringe
■You can use the same syringe for 48 hours
■Place the syringes in zip-lock bags and freeze
■Bring to the hospital for supplementation
■Defrost under warm running water

Thanks for reading and hope you give it a try

 

[Proud_Mommy]

This is great that you're going to breastfeed and attending classes and learning about it. Unfortunately this time I wont be breastfeeding, actually with my first I pumped for about 3 months and milk stopped around month 4. I had a lot of plugged duckts and I was in pain all the time, I was misarable. I also had a lump on my right breast that stayed in for a very long time and had to go and get it checked..thankfuly it was nothins serious and I think it went away, Im supposed to for another check up this month.

 

[aley28]

This is good information, thanks!

You're supposed to express into a syringe and keep it in the syringe? Where do you get syringes at?

 

[shanti01]

I'm definitely going to breastfeed and started my own "support group" around me.