New moms and dads you meet, your family and friends, your colleagues, the online forums, even your local politician – it seems that everyone has an opinion about breastfeeding these days and they aren’t afraid to share it with you. But this is your baby to raise and the way you plan to feed him or her is your decision. Gather all the information you can before he or she arrives, decide on a feeding plan, and then follow that plan to the best of your ability, health, and sanity.
Breast milk has three stages. This is important to know as the first two stages occur near to birth – the time when you’re most overwhelmed with everything that’s new.
First Stage
Colostrum is present at birth. It’s yellowish and sticky. You might think of it as liquid gold because of what it contains. Your baby enters this life from a sterile womb; colostrum is like the first inoculation: rich in protein, the antibodies you’ve developed in response to your environment, as well as laxative elements to help your baby remove the materials he or she has ingested while in utero.
Second Stage
Transitional milk usually appears between two and five days after delivery. You will continue to produce transitional milk for one-two weeks. It retains a yellowish color, but is thinner and more plentiful than colostrum. Transitional milk is also higher in calories than colostrum and contains high levels of fat, lactose, and water-soluble vitamins. Because you’re suddenly producing a greater quantity of breast milk in this transitional stage it’s common to feel that your breasts are full and uncomfortable.
Third Stage
You will begin producing your mature milk approximately two weeks after delivery. It commonly has a bluish tint and is much thinner than cow’s milk or formula, but it contains the full nutritional elements your baby requires for the first six months: water, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The specific properties of your mature milk will change throughout lactation based on the needs of your baby, your exposure to environmental elements, and your diet.
More on that…to come.
Sources:
Casemore,
Stephanie. Exclusively Pumping Breast Milk. Napanee, Ontario: 2014.
Our resident “Moms Who Know” informed this post and our writers composed it. No one contributing to this post is a trained medical professional. For further reading and information on familiarizing yourself with your breast pump, please visit the websites for any of the five brands Byram Healthcare proudly distributes:
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