first few days before milk comes in
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Hospital will always have formula for you but you can bring your own if you have a brand preference. Has to be ready made though. You won't always be able to collect colostrum in advance so don't worry that your milk won't come in...may be there within an hour of giving birth!
I wasn’t able to express anything and then went in to labour at 36+4, I had her the next day and was able to express immediately. The midwife even brought me a pump. It was only colostrum for the first few days but that is all babies need. They will also have formula available if you need it so don’t stress
Bring your own formula if you want to use a specific kind in the event you need to supplement, hospitals usually only carry one or two kinds. But colostrum from your breast is all they really need. Our hospital had donor milk so you could ask for that if its available
Okay thank you!!
colostrum should be enough, even if you haven’t collected any
If you plan to feed from your breast, just work on latching baby as much as you can. As stressful as it can be their crying will help your body start producing milk. A few drops of colostrum is really all they need to start. Their tummies are the size of a chickpea. The more you latch and stimulate your nipples the quicker your milk will come in! Even if you cant express colostrum baby will be able to get some out when nursing and it has everything they need.
Just colostrum on and off that I hadn't collected, but kept putting baby on the boob to produce it and stimulate milk. They only need tiny amounts, which means they digest it really quickly so mine fed every 20 mins to an hour for the first 30 hours! Brutal but over so quickly.