Colostrum after childbirth

Already during pregnancy, in the mammary glands of the expectant mother colostrum is formed. It can act with pressure on the nipple, or it may flow out arbitrarily, especially at night - these phenomena are normal.

After delivery, colostrum is an invaluable substance that every baby needs to adapt to the outside world as soon as possible. Due to its rich composition, it is a kind of immune defense of a small organism from surrounding viruses and bacteria. In addition, entering the digestive tract, colostrum triggers the process of digesting food and helps to dispose of meconium.

What if there is no colostrum after childbirth?

It is very rare, but it happens that neither during pregnancy nor after childbirth, a woman has a hint of colostrum. The reason for this may be the individual characteristic of the mother in childbirth, as well as the hormonal background. It may not appear immediately, and sometimes it takes about 3-5 days. Anyway, to stimulate his appearance, the baby should often be applied to the chest.

What color is the colostrum after delivery?

Different women have a different colostrum appearance. Sometimes you can see even colostrum orange, but most often it will be yellow, with a creamy tinge. Over time, it becomes lighter, and as a result, mature milk (which appears on the 6-9th day) may already be white or even bluish.

Do I need to express colostrum after delivery?

Many inexperienced moms are concerned about the question - what to do if after the delivery is a little colostrum. Some can have only a few drops, while others may have up to 100 ml. These are all individual indicators and envious of those who have more, should not. Just need to put the newborn to the breast as often as possible, and such stimulation will be the best answer to the harassing question.

But it is not necessary to express colostrum specifically, except in case the baby does not take the breast or was born prematurely. Then they give him colostrum from a spoon or a pipette.

So we figured out when the colostrum appears after delivery. This question should not bother Mom at all. The only thing she should think about after the baby's birth is that it's about being with him as often as possible. This is a joint sleep, and skin-to-skin contact. All this stimulates the production of the right amount of colostrum.