In the article, we will consider how to express colostrum.
Frequent and effective application of the baby to the breast from the first minutes of life is very important for the correct and successful feeding of the baby. Compliance with this recommendation will ensure high-quality and long-term lactation without additional measures regarding the mammary glands. However, situations often arise when expressing colostrum is necessary for medical reasons.
Natural feeding process
Attaching a baby to the breast after birth is the beginning of the process of natural feeding. Colostrum, which appears in the mammary glands before the formation of breast milk, envelops the walls of the baby’s stomach, prepares his body and digestive system for successful development and functioning. So the baby gets a valuable cocktail of immunoglobulins. However, the mere desire of the mother to establish breastfeeding is not enough. There are certain stages and rules in accordance with which this process proceeds.
How to express colostrum, we will tell below. In the meantime, find out why this should be done.
Why is this needed?
If the baby and mother are healthy and focused on natural feeding, expressing colostrum after childbirth is not required. Colostrum is produced in the most optimal amount, does not load the baby's digestive system and increases his strength. Many women wonder if colostrum is expressed. This may be required only in the following cases:
- A woman is not able to feed her baby for a certain period after childbirth due to anesthesia after illness or cesarean section. In this case, to start the lactation process, it is necessary to express colostrum.
- The baby was born weak or premature and cannot fully suckle. Strained colostrum is given to him from a spoon or through a pipette.
- With severe jaundice of newborns and phototherapy.
- With special schemes for nursing a child with a low weight.
During pregnancy
In some women, colostrum begins to stand out during pregnancy. In this case, it does not need to be decanted, as this will only exacerbate the problem. The quality and quantity of milk after childbirth does not depend on the amount of colostrum during pregnancy.
Many mothers are interested in the question: is it necessary to express colostrum so that milk can be produced? No, such a natural mechanism of milk production rarely crashes. When staying together, feeding on demand, if the baby takes the breast and has a well-developed sucking reflex, there is usually no need to express colostrum. A few days after birth, this thick liquid is converted into a transitional, and later, after about 10 days, into mature milk.
Main reasons
The reasons for the need to remove colostrum are:
- excommunication of the child, in particular after cesarean section;
- stay of the child in an incubator;
- the birth of a premature baby who does not know how to suck;
- difficult birth with the use of drugs incompatible with breastfeeding;
- ineffective and weak sucking, breastfeeding.
So, find out how to express colostrum.
Stages and technology of the procedure
For the first time, instead of using a breast pump, it is better to express colostrum manually. This should be done very carefully so as not to injure the nipples. The consistency of the first colostrum is quite thick, so the mammary gland and undeveloped nipples are difficult to devastate. Before expressing colostrum with your hands, it is recommended to massage your chest with the help of a shower or with circular movements of the palms. Warm drinking 20-30 minutes before the procedure enhances the outflow of fluid.
Rules for expressing colostrum with your hands:
- Before starting the procedure, wash your hands, nipples and areola, prepare the container.
- Grasp the gland with a brush so that only the thumb is 2-3 cm above the nipple, and the remaining fingers are under it.
- Make pushing movements from top to bottom towards the nipple.
- Covering the contents of the ducts of the mammary gland, connect the thumb and forefinger on the edge of the areola. Do this very carefully, avoiding injury to the papillary region.
Pain should not be
This event should not deliver the painful sensations that arise with a violation of technology. It is not necessary to empty the mammary gland to the last drop, the goal is only to relieve excessive stress. After the decantation procedure, it is necessary to try to feed the baby, since it is possible that it will be much easier to cope with soft breasts.
How to express colostrum, it is important to find out in advance.
It is strictly forbidden to do this during pregnancy. Such manipulations provoke the release of oxytocin in the body. This hormone is responsible for the development of uterine contractions and can cause miscarriage in the early stages or premature birth.
It is a mistake to think that the colostrum is not enough for babies. Attempts to express the fluid without existing medical evidence will only do harm.
How often do colostrum need to be expressed?
The frequency of decantation
Each situation is individual. The best solution would be to consult a breastfeeding consultant who will develop a special pumping scheme and introduce colostrum pumping techniques.
A few recommendations:
- To normalize the lactation process, if the baby after birth for certain reasons can not suck, you need to start pumping as soon as possible. It is advisable to do this within 6 hours after delivery. Initially, it will be a few drops of colostrum, then its amount will gradually increase.
- Next, it is necessary to express colostrum approximately in the rhythm of applying the baby to the chest. At least every 2-3 hours, including during the night. You need to try to get at least 8 decantation per day.
- If decantation at night is difficult, it is possible to take one break in 4-5 hours. But such a procedure at night is very important for sufficient milk production. Thus, it is necessary that from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. there should be at least one decantation.
- Rare expressions or their absence, if the baby is not applied to the breast, can interfere with the formation of the lactation process and provoke insufficient milk formation in the future.
- To maintain the necessary amount of milk, it is advisable to decant in the rhythm in which the baby sucked or even more often, since no breast pump or manual decantation can stimulate the mammary glands as effectively as the baby.
- Regardless of how much time has passed since the last decantation, it should be expressed colostrum to a feeling of relief if the woman feels a strong filling of the glands. And you need to do this even when the time has not yet come.
- If it is not possible to express as often and for a long time as planned, it is important to remember that breast stimulation is a manipulation for milk production. Even a few minutes of pumping is much better than nothing. If there is no possibility to adhere to a certain rhythm, you need to do this in any case convenient for a woman.
How to express colostrum after childbirth?
You can express colostrum in two ways - using a breast pump or by hand. If a woman has never breast-fed before, her nipples have a very dense and elastic structure, so the use of a breast pump is not recommended, because with this device you can easily injure the nipple. Fluid from the chest is poorly excreted. This is due to the fact that the breast pump decantes the contents of the gland under vacuum pressure, and mechanical excretion of the entire gland is necessary to remove colostrum. Colostrum is very thick, and the breast pump is not able to remove it in sufficient quantities. In this case, it remains to express it manually. To do this, it is necessary to stretch and prepare the breast, you can lubricate it with oil or baby cream.
If a woman has already breast-fed children earlier, the process of expressing colostrum will be much easier. This is because the nipples of such a woman are softer, the milk ducts are wider, and colostrum is expressed quite easily. In this case, you can use a breast pump, and you can express yourself with your hands.
What time is it?
Typically, a single pumping procedure takes approximately 20 minutes for each mammary gland. If you work to increase the amount of milk, you need to continue to express for a few more minutes after the colostrum has ceased to stand out. Many mothers combine both types of decantation, first using a breast pump, and then decanting colostrum with hands. This allows you to make the procedure most effective.
We examined how to express colostrum properly.