Does Colostrum in Pregnancy Mean Breast Milk Will Come in Quicker?

by Jenni
(Oklahoma)

This is my 3rd pregnancy. The last two pregnancies my milk came in 3-5 days after delivery. I am currently 34 weeks pregnant and I noticed some colostrum. This has never happened to me before. Does it mean that my milk may come in quicker this time. I HOPE SO!

Answer:

Hi Jenni,

It's pretty normal to see colostrum during pregnancy - some women see it even earlier.

I have never seen evidence that having some colostrum during pregnancy correlates to milk supply coming in quickly. I have always seen some colostrum during my third trimesters and my milk has always come in quickly - but I don't think that my experience is enough to draw a scientific conclusion :p

I recommend you take it easy and make sure your nutrition is excellent in these last few weeks leading up to your baby's birth.

Be sure that after the birth you're getting plenty of water, and eat when you are hungry. Nurse the baby often - baby's frequency of nursing is what will help your milk come in the fastest.

You can also start drinking a nursing/milk boosting tea once your baby is born. They tend to work really well for many women, helping milk come in more quickly.

Best of luck to you!

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Does Colostrum in Pregnancy Mean Breast Milk Will Come in Quicker?

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Mar 24, 2010
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3 days to milk
by: Anonymous

I started seeing colostrum when I was only 8 weeks pregnant. My milk came in on day 3 and I did have an oversupply and overactive letdown that required me to nurse every feeding on one side for 8 hours before switching to the other side in order to make sure my baby got enough hindmilk.

Mar 29, 2010
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Early colostrum
by: Anonymous

My colostrum came in at about 20 weeks... Most days, by about 8pm, I was having to express some of it to relieve the pressure...

I was so thankful, though, once I'd given birth - my milk came in on day three (pretty normal) but my baby was fairly large (9.9 pounds) and he was pretty hungry for those 3 days!

I had a maternal health nurse (retrospectively) suggest that I could have frozen that expressed colostrum to boost the supply in the first few days, but I wonder if supplementing like that would have impaired my supply...?

Who knows.
Anyway, good luck with the baby!

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