Breastfeeding

[hides100]

Hi all!! I'm just over 37 weeks pregnant now and a bit concerned that I haven't had any sign of colostrum yet. My boobs have gone up from a 12D to at least a 14DD throughout the pregnancy and a friend of mine thought this would mean I'd have early leakage. She told me to ask my OB this week whether I should massage them to stimulate the colostrum......does anyone know anything about this??

This is my first baby and I'm keen to have a natural drug-free birth and use cloth nappies......If I have issues with my milk I will be absolutely devastated!:no: HELP PLEASE!!! I can't wait to see my OB on thursday!!

[shed]

not everyone leaks before giving birth. I didn't and now I have enough milk to feed the starving millions. Its no indication of future supply as far as I know.

[Oscar's mum]

I wouldn't be concerned at all. Many ppl do not have any physical signs of colostrum prior to having the baby. ;)

Just wait till bub is born and I am sure you will be fine.

[MrsMiggins]

I never leaked before having DD, in fact I couldn't even squeeze a drop out!!

I did not have a lot of colostrum first up, but DD was fine (babies are actually born with enough stores that they do not require feeding straight away and can make do on virtually nothing for days), but when my milk came in there was certainly more than enough!! So make sure you stock up an plenty of breastpads! You may just need them!! :thumbsup:

[sam's mum]

I'm with Shed, I could have fed at least ten kids with the amount of milk I had, but not a drop until after bubba was born. Try not to worry about it. :rolleyes: :laughing: (if you can)

[Lambie]

I wouldn't worry about it. I did not even have an inkling of leakage during my pregnancy, and now I have enough to keep my baby satisfied.

You will probably find, as I did, that your colostrum will come through the first time you nurse your bub. This is released as the suckling sensation from the baby sends a message to your brain to release the hormones prolactin and oxytocin. Prolactin stimulates the alveoli to produce milk and the oxytocin stimulates the cells lining the alveoli to contract and squeeze the milk into the ducts.

Good luck and hope everything goes well with the remainder of your pregnancy.

[Jem]

i never leaked during pregancy.. and i bf both boys.. only recently stopped bf ds2 who is now 15 months :D

[2s'nuff]

Appreciate the fact that you're not leaking everywhere before bub arrives. Your body will kick in with milk when the time comes.

[Tam-I-Am]

Leakage before you have the baby is no indicator of how much milk you'll produce after the bub is born.

While you're pregnant, your placenta is actually producing a hormone that inhibits milk production. After the baby's been born, the placenta stops doing so, and then is obviously expelled, and you can produce milk.

Take it as a blessing! I leaked from 16 weeks on with DD - and it was a pain in the rear!

[Eternity]

I’m 40 weeks +5 days now and I haven’t leaked at all,I’m very happy about that. I can squeeze it out though, you have to grab the whole areola kind of and squeeze into the nipple ( I didn’t realise at first thought you just queese the nipple:laughing: Are you concerned you don’t have any at all or just that you aren’t leaking, cause leaking is just a pain in the butt I think:yes: like the other girls have said its doesn’t mean your not going to be able to breastfeed your just one of the lucky ones

[draught]

Just to agree with everyone - I too haven't leaked even once with any of my pregnancies and yet successfully breastfed my two daughters (and had a lot extra with DD1, although fortunately didn't leak as much with DD2) so leaking during pregnancy is no sign of what is to come! Good luck with your birth and breastfeeding relationship.

[hides100]

Thanks everyone. I guess I was worrying over nothing........I'll blame my friend for putting the idea into my head!!! I did actually massage the nipple a little yesterday and voila! I got colostrum......but luckily no leakage! No worries :yelclap:

[*Lauren*]

Hi all :wave:

Well I've leaked from about 20 weeks and i'm 28 now... and i actually only discovered that my boobs were producing colostrum because they felt sore so i massaged them and gave them a squeeze and from then on in, every day I cant wait to get home to squeeze my boobs because it relieves them so much and i feel sooooo much better. LOL! :p Myself and DP actually measured how far i could squirt.... how very mature of us.. it literally shot across the room onto the TV though. :rolleyes:

I'd give them a bit of a massage everyday and a squeeze and see what happens. But as the girls have said some people just don't get a drop until birth and that's completely normal.

have a good day!!

[Mum&bubs]

Yep like everyone else said i wouldnt worry. I didnt get any leakage whats so ever with any of my pregnancies ;)