But Lactation Begins Before Birth. . .
We find ourselves pregnant and once the excitement (and complete terror) subsides, we find ourselves googling “I am pregnant, what do I need to do now?” You will get everything from the best (and worst) prenatal vitamins, the very alarming reviews on all the various car seats, and if you are lucky will somehow be drawn into wanting to purchase a $1500 bassinet. Rarely, however, do we find “take a prenatal breastfeeding course and find a local lactation consultant.” We are so caught up in the world of capitalistic marketing, that we forget we are merely doing something that we did WAY before we had sound machines, bath toys, or teething rings. I often try to remind moms that babies need to do 3 things: eat, poop, and sleep. Without those 3 things, none of it matters. So a safe place to sleep, LOTs of diapers, and for the love of all things good some prenatal breastfeeding education is all mamas need.
I will talk about prenatal breastfeeding education until I turn blue, but let’s talk about one of my favorite reasons. Lactation begins BEFORE delivery. Now this is not to suggest that we need to “toughen up” our nipples or any of those silly myths, but your body begins to go through the first stage of Lactogenesis around 20+ weeks pregnant. Your body begins to produce some of the finest breastmilk, colostrum, while your baby is still in utero. This is something that a mother would learn during a prenatal breastfeeding course, which can prepare her for numerous reasons.
I find that mothers simply like to be aware that their body is already producing milk, so there is no misnomer that they “do not have milk”. As soon as your baby is delivered and he/she begins to suckle at the breast they will get their first drops of their mother’s milk. It will not be white, it will not come in at copious volumes, but it will be there. In fact, our colostrum is perfectly designed for our day old infant. It is richer, holding higher concentrations, and thick. This helps provide baby with the nutrients they need in the small volumes their small stomachs as suggested in Figure 1. So keep in mind that your body began lactating way before birth, your baby’s stomach is teeny-tiny, and in most cases there is no need for supplementation: your milk is perfectly made!
Figure 1: Representation of Newborn’s Stomach Size Per Day (1)
In addition to simple peace of mind, if we know that we begin lactating before birth, then we can optimize on our time when baby is in utero. Many moms have begun to harvest colostrum. Harvesting colostrum is the act of self expressing one’s colostrum, which can safely be done at 36+ wks with the approval of your OBGYN/Midwife. To harvest colostrum you typically need 1-5mL syringes, a spoon or medicine cup, and skilled in hand expression. Mothers who wish to harvest colostrum simply hand express into a spoon or medicine cup and then suck up the colostrum into a syringe.
Mothers choose to harvest colostrum for many reasons. Some mothers who are predicted or who have tendencies to have LGA or jaundice babies may choose to harvest, so they minimize their potential chances to need to supplement their babies. Other mothers who are planning to have a csection, may also choose to harvest as often times ceserean mothers have a delay in their milk production. Even mothers who do not have a direct reason for potentially needing to supplement, antenatal hand expression has been found to shorten the period for mothers to wait for their milk supply to establish and increase full breast feeding quicker. (2)
So before you get too stressed out about what color to paint your nursery, choose to educate yourself on lactation first. Our bodies begin preparing us for this process long before our babies have arrived, so we need to educate one another long before our babies arrive. It, of course, helps with mother’s mental sanity, but when we do not learn about lactation until baby arrives - we miss out on some of the richest parts of lactation!
As always, feel free to reach out to me! I would love to learn more about you and your feeding journey. I am here to support you anywhere along the way!
With love,
Antoinette C., CLC
Owner, Breastfeeding Reborn
(1) Your Newborn’s Stomach Size Is Smaller Than You Think. (2020, September 25). Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/your-newborns-stomach-size-is-smaller-than-you-think#day-10
(2) Singh G, Chouhan R, Sidhu K. Effect of Antenatal Expression of Breast Milk at Term in Reducing Breast Feeding Failures. Med J Armed Forces India. 2009 Apr;65(2):131-3. doi: 10.1016/S0377-1237(09)80125-1. Epub 2011 Jul 21. PMID: 27408218; PMCID: PMC4921432.