Long before your milk properly comes in, your breasts are already making something remarkable. Colostrum is the very first milk your body produces, often described as liquid gold for its thick, golden colour and the concentrated dose of antibodies and nutrients it carries. A number of parents choose to hand express and freeze small amounts of it in the final weeks of pregnancy, a practice known as colostrum harvesting, so that it is ready and waiting if their baby needs a little extra help in the first hours after birth.

What Colostrum Does For Your Baby

Colostrum starts being produced from around the middle of pregnancy, though many people do not notice any leaking until later on, if at all. It is easy for a newborn's tiny stomach to digest, rich in antibodies, and thought to help line and settle a baby's gut in those very first days. Babies only need tiny amounts at each feed, so even a small stash collected before birth can go a surprisingly long way. Whether or not breastfeeding becomes your main way of feeding, colostrum offered in the early hours can still be a gentle, useful start.

Who Tends To Be Offered It

Colostrum harvesting is not something every pregnant person needs to do, but it is often discussed with those at higher chance of feeding challenges in the first days, including people with diabetes in pregnancy, those expecting twins or a baby who may arrive early, or anyone having a planned caesarean. Having a small supply of frozen colostrum ready can be reassuring in these situations, and some units run dedicated colostrum harvesting clinics for people with gestational or pre-existing diabetes, since low blood sugar after birth is a recognised risk for these babies and may need treatment in hospital. If a gestational diabetes diagnosis is new to you, our guide to gestational diabetes covers what to expect through the rest of your pregnancy and around the birth itself.

That said, plenty of parents without any of these factors simply like the idea of having a little colostrum banked as a backup, and that is a perfectly reasonable reason to ask your midwife about it too.

When To Start, And When Not To

Tommy's advises that you can start hand expressing for a few minutes once a day from around 36 weeks, although your midwife will want to confirm it is appropriate for your particular pregnancy before you begin, and exact timing varies by local guidance. It is not recommended in some situations, such as a higher chance of early labour, because expressing can occasionally bring on mild contractions, so always check with your midwife before you start. If you are at all unsure whether harvesting is suitable for you, ask at your next antenatal appointment rather than guessing from something you have read online.

A Gentle Technique, Not A Performance

Colostrum is expressed by hand rather than with a pump, since the amounts involved are so small in these early days that hand expressing works better. The NHS guide to expressing breast milk by hand describes a simple rhythm that applies just as well in pregnancy as it does after birth:

Wash your hands and have a clean container or syringe ready.
Warm and gently massage the breast for a few minutes to help things flow.
Cup the breast with your thumb and fingers in a C shape, a couple of centimetres back from the nipple.
Press gently towards your chest, compress and release in a steady rhythm, without sliding your fingers over the skin.
Move around the breast as the flow slows, then swap sides.

At first you may see nothing more than a glisten of moisture on the skin, and that is completely normal. Some people express a little every day, others do it a handful of times over several weeks, and neither approach says anything about how breastfeeding will go once your baby arrives.

Storing And Bringing It With You

Your maternity unit will usually give you sterile syringes and labels, along with guidance on how many times you can top up the same syringe before it needs to go in the freezer, and how long frozen colostrum keeps at home, since exact storage times can vary between trusts. The one constant is labelling: your name, the date, and the time of expression on every syringe. When labour begins or you go in for a planned birth, a small batch travels with you in a cool bag, ready to be handed to staff and kept in the ward's milk fridge or freezer until it is needed.

Using It After Birth

Once your baby arrives, harvested colostrum can be given by syringe onto their gums or tucked into their cheek, offered as a top-up if they are sleepy or their blood sugar needs support, or simply given alongside early breastfeeds for extra reassurance. Newborn stomachs are tiny, so even a syringe or two of colostrum is a meaningful amount in those first hours.

It Is Entirely Optional

Colostrum harvesting is one option among several, not a task to add to an already long pregnancy to-do list. It is completely fine to decide it is not for you, to try it briefly and stop if it feels uncomfortable, or to ask your midwife for hands-on help if drops are hard to find. Whatever you express, or do not, has no bearing on how well breastfeeding will go once your baby is here, and your midwife will be happy to revisit the conversation at any point in late pregnancy.

Whatever You Choose Is Right For You

There is no single correct way to prepare for feeding your baby, and colostrum harvesting is simply one gentle option some families find worthwhile. If it appeals to you, a quick conversation with your midwife about safety and timing is all it takes to get started, and if it does not, your baby will still be met with everything they need once they arrive.

Colostrum Harvesting in Pregnancy: What It Is and How to Do It Safely