Welcome to my week 40 blog entry on antenatal expressing of colostrum when I gave birth to my baby girl Alyssa. This entry has taken me about 11 weeks to write but I didn't want to do a half-assed job!
Alyssa was born at week 40 plus 3 days, weighing a decent 8lbs 12.5oz. The birth was completely uneventful and I only needed gas and air to push her out. Needless to say, my hubby Steve and I are both very proud of her and amazingly overjoyed 😍 Her 17-month-old toddler brother Logan, still has plenty of adjusting to do but that will come with time and plenty of supervised interaction.
We've had the standard medical checks on Alyssa and she's passed them all, so we are very happy. Her blood spot results will take about 3 weeks but the physical tests have been completed: Reflexes and reactions, hearing screening, weight and jaundice.
**Update** blood spots all passed - no illnesses.
While it's been a busy week adjusting to a new routine and having to go out every other day for a baby check appointment, we are so delighted with our new arrival. I am even more so, as expressing colostrum antenatally from 27 weeks of pregnancy to relieve discomfort deep within the breast had no adverse effects on myself or my baby. It just goes to show that your body really does know what it's doing and we should listen to our physical selves more often.
My Colostrum Harvesting Diary at Week 40 of Pregnancy - Week commencing 23rd March 2021
So, my colostrum harvesting diary is a bit short this week, but it does go up to the birth date. Alyssa's due date was 23rd March however I carried her for 3 extra days.
My last day of expressing was 22nd March 2021 and I have continued to express twice daily. The amounts expressed this week have been slightly less due to an increasing lack of energy signalling the impending birth. Perhaps my body just decided to divert its energy elsewhere in preparation.
23rd March - 13.9ml total
- am 6.6ml
- pm 7.3ml
24th March - 16.5ml total
- am 6.5ml
- pm 10ml
25th March - 10ml total
- am 10ml
- pm - I went into labour at 6pm!
Total expressed for the 'week' (2.5 days): 40.4ml
Average daily amount: 16.2ml
Total expressed to date: 718.3ml (That's only 30ml off a standard sized bottle of wine!)
My pattern of antenatal expressing of colostrum over time since week 28:
The above graph clearly shows the daily volume of colostrum expressed reducing in the upcoming days before the birth. I believe this is due to my body diverting energy elsewhere in preparation.
This graph also illustrates the same as the previous however we must bear in mind that the actual figure 40.4ml of colostrum expressed for week 40 of pregnancy is due to only having 2.5 days (or 5x expressing sessions). You can achieve a projected figure if you multiply the average daily amount of 16.2ml by 7 (days in a week) =113.4ml, which is still less than the 137.55ml in the previous week.
The Birth at 40 Weeks and 3 Days
Well, you may have read lots of different birthing stories that go into a lot of detail about various things, so I'm going to spare you all that and just compare this birth with my previous one. That way we can all read it with some form of context but we must bear in mind that every pregnancy and birth is different.
|
|
Pregnancy
1 Boy weighing 8lb 6oz |
Pregnancy
2 Girl weighing 8lb 12.5oz |
|
Did I have
breast discomfort deep within the breast tissue which felt like the need to
express milk? |
No |
Yes |
|
Did I express
colostrum antenatally? |
No |
Yes |
|
First signs
of labour |
Waters
breaking at 11pm |
Mild contraction
a dinner at around 5:30pm |
|
1st
stage of labour |
1am – 6:30am |
5:30pm – 7:30am |
|
2nd
stage of labour |
6:30am – 13:05 |
7:30am – 9:17am |
|
Waters broke |
Before labour
at 11pm |
During 2nd
stage of labour as baby was about to come out at about 8am |
|
Assisted
delivery |
Yes – forceps
& episiotomy |
No |
|
Pain relief |
Yes – gas &
air, then epidural |
Yes – gas &
air |
|
Theatre |
Yes – baby was
facing the wrong way so could not bend his head to come out. Consultants were
concerned about the pressure on baby’s head so decided that theatre was the
best option |
No –
delivered baby naturally with the support of a midwife |
|
3rd
stage of labour |
Given
injection |
Given
injection |
|
Tear |
Yes – 3rd degree |
No – only ‘minor
grazes’ according to the midwife |
|
Stitches
required |
Yes |
No |
|
Blood loss |
750ml (more
than average and borderline transfusion). Sent home with iron tablets |
Within normal
limits. No need for iron tablets |
|
Colostrum
production |
Started
producing a few drops of colostrum a few days before birth but I did not keep
it or feel the need to express |
Felt the need
to express colostrum from 27 weeks. Stored the colostrum, producing a stash
of 718ml |
|
When milk
came in |
7 days due to
intravenous fluids (much later than usual) |
3 days
(normal) |
|
How baby was
fed |
Mixed feeding:
50:50 Milk:Formula |
Mixed feeding:
95:5 Milk:Formula There are
some days where I don’t need to give formula as I have produced enough milk. |
|
Freeze &
store milk |
No – I did
not produce enough |
Yes – I have
been able to freeze 1x bag (150-180ml) per day |
Feeding Expressed Colostrum to my Baby
I stored all my expressed colostrum in 1ml syringes in the freezer. I chose 1ml as I wasn't sure how baby would feed or how good my milk supply would be, so I had greater flexibility and ability to defrost quickly if needed!
I started feeding Alyssa the expressed colostrum only when my boobs felt very sore - it didn't help that she was a chomper when she was making the latch 😳 so she had a few feeds over the first two weeks where I just gave her a defrosted syringe or two direct to her mouth. Initially I had to apply a tiny bit of pressure however she quickly leaned to suck.
Her appetite started to build very rapidly and I ended up just adding the colostrum into my expressed milk. So, in hindsight maybe it would have been better to have a mixture of storage for colostrum: some in 1ml syringes, some in larger syringes and some in milk storage bags.
She took the colostrum in every time without any issues and I used up all the colostrum by week 8.
Reflection
- Am I pleased with my decision to express colostrum antenatally from week 27 of pregnancy?
Yes. I know it appears to go against most
standard advice online however it is supported by the La Leche League and by my midwife who knows me and and my pregnancy, which was low risk. I didn't experience any signs of preterm labour.
- Would I do this if it was my first pregnancy?
Well, that depends if I physically felt the need to express and how strong that feeling was vs. the unknown. As I have a previous pregnancy to go by, I felt much more confident this time round but with first pregnancies there is a degree of uncertainty. I did not feel the need to express during my first pregnancy so I didn't. I only stumbled into the world of colostrum with my second!
- Would I express colostrum during my next pregnancy?
Yes I would. Now that I have done it and have a healthy baby girl, I would certainly consider expressing colostrum again.
- Would I recommend expressing colostrum as a matter of course?
I'm not a medical professional so talk to your midwife as they will advise you on what you need/can do. But if you are able to safely express, then I would try it following the guidance of the La Leche League.
- Why women aren't allowed to talk about expressing colostrum antenatally from entering the third trimester...
If you're looking for information on expressing colostrum from the third trimester, there's really not much you can access online, appart from the La Leche League website which is one of the reasons why I wanted to write this blog.
Most medical sources tell you to wait until 36-37 weeks to express colostrum antenatally (and even then there are differences!) It's also very difficult to find information from women who have successfully expressed colostrum antenatally, in particular earlier on in the third trimester. I have referenced a few sources in my early blog posts however.
So, why is this?
After reading a number of forums where you see posts from women who have experienced discomfort or are leaking colostrum everywhere, their immediate reaction is to express a little for relief. However when they posted about this on forums to sense check with other mums, they are almost immediately told they should not be expressing colostrum due to the risk of preterm labour "STOP!! your baby will come early" - but how are these people so sure when they don't know you?
As part of my information search I posted on a popular breastfeeding forum with a picture of what I had expressed in the hope of reaching out to someone who had done this from early on in the third trimester however I, like the other women on forums, was shut down by various people. I was also contacted by one of the moderators and told that what I was posting was 'dangerous to other women' which was not my intention at all. Instead of being supportive and directing me elsewhere, I have found many people on forums to be very rude and unhelpful, almost to the point where you are simply not allowed to talk about expressing colostrum from early on in the third trimester of pregnancy. This reaction completely contradicts the guidance from my midwife and the La Leche League which makes no sense to me.
I talk about the lack of information in alot more detail in my first two blog posts and I focus on the frequency of expressing as the elephant in the room which everyone seems to be missing... Making sense of these polar opposite views was also another catalyst for me to write this blog.
- Would I like to see another UK study on antenatal expressing of colostrum carried out for women?
ABSOLUTELY! I feel it's long over due. Studies need to be conducted on healthy low risk pregnancies, not just those with gestational diabetes. The findings also need to be presented in a non bias way instead of applying a blanket summary of negatives.
There are a number of studies with a positive outlook on expressing colostrum antenatally which can be found on the La Leche League website however they are a little out of date, so we need something more current!
Getting Some Closure
As previously mentioned, I turned to one particular Facebook group to reach out to other mums who may have expressed colostrum, however the group was very negative and unsupportive. So, I decided to prove a point by posting a lovely picture of my baby girl feeding then I left the group. This has given me some closure about how I was treated when I wanted to talk about expressing colostrum antenatally - read my week 28 blog for more info:
My Disclaimers
Firstly, I'm not a medical professional; I am simply a mum second time round and I'm just documenting my experience, that is all. This blog is not intended to be taken as advice or guidance in any way, but if it helps somebody make a more informed decision because they have read a bit more information on my experience then I'm glad to be of help. I would strongly advise people to talk to their medical professional first before expressing colostrum antenatally to ensure it is safe to do so.
Secondly, I need to provide a bit of background information about myself. I am 32 years old, I am a low risk pregnancy due on 23rd March 2021. I started producing colostrum naturally from week 27 of my pregnancy which is when I noticed the discomfort in my breasts, hence why I discovered how much I was producing and thought it was worthwhile saving. I already have a 15 month old boy who was initially breast fed but is now bottle fed cow's milk - this small gap between the pregnancies may have a part to play in influencing my body chemistry second time round.
Thirdly, this is a personal blog, not a scientific one. I'm simply documenting my thoughts, feelings, actions and anything useful that I can find, mostly for my own benefit.
__________
Links to My Blogs on Antenatal Expressing of Colostrum
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