I did a breastfeeding Q & A in my stories back in September and received over 500…

I did a breastfeeding Q & A in my stories back in September and received over 500 questions. I posted this shortly after as one particular question came up multiple times:

"What do I feed my baby until milk comes in?"

I wasn't able to respond to everyone so I created this visual instead.

Milk doesn't just suddenly appear after the birth having previously been non existent. You dont starve your baby until milk 'comes in'

I hope this visual helps to explain it! The first milk colostrum is being developed (in normal situations) from the second trimester. You may or may not notice leaking (most dont) Colostrum might be yellow, white or even clear . When the baby is born the milk producing hormone increases as baby is put to the breast. They drink colostrum in small quantities for the first few days before the milk changes. It increases in volume, usually changes to a white colour and you may find you become engorged and leak everywhere!

The more baby feeds, the quicker this can happen.

This can be delayed by:

Traumatic birth, infrequent breast feeding or replacing breast feeds with formula, stress, poor latch, hormonal irregularities (extremely rare), no or little support, low fluid intake. Its important you have support in the early days to ensure baby is feeding well and taking enough milk. There is some information on the NHS website regarding knowing is your baby is getting enough.

This image is meant to display basic/standard physiology. Every woman is different but in general, this is what boobs usually do! I hope it helps answer some of those questions 😊 . This image can be downloaded as a poster by visiting childbirthdownloads.com . . #midwifemarley #breastfeeding #breasts #milk #colostrum #nursing