{"id":15033,"date":"2019-05-15T07:45:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T11:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.oviahealth.com\/guide\/15033\/do-people-pump-before-giving-birth\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T11:38:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:38:04","slug":"do-people-pump-before-giving-birth","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.oviahealth.com\/guide\/15033\/do-people-pump-before-giving-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"Do people pump before giving birth?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are many things that you can get a head-start on during pregnancy \u2013 buying nursery furniture for instance or taking infant CPR But with other things, it\u2019s less clear. So what\u2019s the verdict on pumping breast milk before your baby is actually born?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing milk before birth is known as Antenatal Milk Expression (AME) or  colostrum harvesting. Starting at around 36-37 weeks, it\u2019s the daily process of collecting very small amounts of your first breastmilk to freeze and store in case you need it during the early days and weeks of breastfeeding. Although not everyone wants or needs to do this, it is gaining in popularity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it done with a breast pump? Not usually, no. Colostrum is super thick and sticky, and electric breast pumps were designed with more mature milk in mind (which is thin and watery). Colostrum harvesting is almost always easier to do by hand, using a technique called hand expression.<\/a> And though we don\u2019t know for sure, hand expression may be less likely to cause contractions than a double electric pump session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some possible advantages\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

From mid-pregnancy until three or so days after birth, your breasts will produce colostrum, your first breastmilk. It\u2019s thick like honey and perfectly formulated to nourish a newborn. Having extra on hand can be helpful if your baby is at higher than average risk of low blood sugar or you\u2019re at high risk of low milk supply. Although gestational diabetes has been studied the most when it comes to the benefits of AME, here is a longer list of situations where there may still be benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n