Pumping before baby arrives?

[LisaL79]

Pregnant with my 3rd and plan on just pumping right from the start.
With my previous 2... I never had any leaking issues before giving birth. I could squeeze out a little bit of something, but it was only ever a droplet.

Would pumping before baby is born actually do anything? Or should I just wait until baby is born before starting?

 

[jlw617]

I personally don't feel like there's anything wrong with it and sometimes there's actually good reason to i.e. if you have gestational diabetes ease or if you know the baby might be born unhealthy/premature it's nice to be able to have a small supply of colostrum to give to baby but as far as doing anything different women feel differently about it it's obviously a little controversy oh as some women say that it can cause you to go into labor early but they also say that an orgasm is stronger than any type of nipple stimulation for one thing and that if a mom that is still nursing continues to nurse while pregnant then there should be no problem using a pump towards end of your pregnancy I would probably wait until you're at least 37 weeks if you're not there already

 

[noon_child]

As it will only be colostrum at this point, manual expression would be an easier way to collect it. It may only be small amounts so you may want to catch it in a syringe rather than a cup. However if you are not feeding baby direct from your breast at all, manual expression is a skill you could do with mastering as for those first few days this will be the best way to collect colostrum; it is so thick it sticks to the sides of pumps and is in such small amounts that you've lost most of it inside the pump flanges and tubes before you can get it in to baby.

 

[LisaL79]

I actually started pumping with my other 2 about 3 or 4 days after giving birth and luckily never had a problem getting enough colostrum to feed them. We did supplement with formula at the start though b/c both babies chewed my nipples up so bad that I couldn't handle the pain and had to let my nips heal some before pumping. It's why I just plan on pumping from the start and not even trying to feed straight from the tap lol.
I was just really wondering if starting before baby is born would maybe help get more or get milk to come in sooner or if there really wasn't any known benefit in starting that early

 

[noon_child]

I was just really wondering if starting before baby is born would maybe help get more or get milk to come in sooner or if there really wasn't any known benefit in starting that early

No it won't make a difference to milk levels, milk is brought in by a huge cascade of hormones that is stimulated when the placenta separates from the uterus. Milk, rather than colostrum) comes in at about 3 or 4 days post partum even when no breastfeeding is taking place, it is totally hormone driven at that early point.

 

[LisaL79]

/nodnod
Didn't mean milk to come in before birth, but sooner after birth. From what I remember, it took about a week for my milk to finally come in after birth.

I'll probably end up just waiting until after, or maybe trying it a day or 2 before my c-sec to see if anything happens lol. We'll see

Thanks a bunch ladies for the info!

 

[noon_child]

A lot of midwives are suggesting getting a small stash of colostrum before birth to ease up on the pressure Mums feel to get breastfeeding right straight away. A back up plan can keep people calmer about persevering with breastfeeding when LO is a little sleepy or uninterested due to birth trauma, interventions, separation from Mum etc.

If you are going to express colostrum right away anyway, it might take pressure off you to express straight after birth etc. But it's totally up to you, whatever you are most comfortable with.

 

[noon_child]

/nodnod
Didn't mean milk to come in before birth, but sooner after birth. From what I remember, it took about a week for my milk to finally come in after birth.

I'll probably end up just waiting until after, or maybe trying it a day or 2 before my c-sec to see if anything happens lol. We'll see

Thanks a bunch ladies for the info!

Yep that's what I thought you meant. As far as I'm aware no it won't bring milk in any quicker because it is so hormone driven in the early days.

 

[mbg81]

I was told that pumping while pregnant will stimulate your uterus to contract and may cause early labor.