Colostrum: What It Is And The Benefits For Your Baby

A question you often hear in the first few days after your baby is born is “has your milk come in yet?” which can feel really invasive and intimidating. Has it? Will it? What if it doesn’t? All of these questions and more can quickly pass through your head. 

But here’s the thing. The moment your baby is born, you already have milk. 

Colostrum is milk. It’s ready and waiting to sustain your baby until more mature milk develops. 

Before I get into the many, many benefits of colostrum for your baby, let me share a little bit about what it is and how it works. 

Colostrum begins to be produced in some of the early weeks of pregnancy and can start leaking in the final weeks. The hormones made by the placenta help create the colostrum and when the placenta is passed after birth, progesterone drops significantly leading to the beginning of the creation of transitional and then mature milk. Before the transitional and mature milk arrives, there is colostrum. It’s packed full with immunoglobulins, protein, vitamins, fats, and sugars. It acts as a laxative to help your baby pass the meconium (black, tar-like poops) and also helps prevent jaundice. If your baby already has jaundice, it helps remove the toxic waste in your baby’s body and helps the jaundice pass quicker. Immunoglobulins are proteins that play a crucial role in our adult immune systems and for a newborn, it IS their first immune system. Babies do not have a developed immune system and colostrum is what protects them in the early days. A baby’s stomach lining is extremely permeable but colostrum helps seal that lining closed so that negative viruses and bacterias cannot enter. Colostrum is perfectly made for human babies. 

It’s hard to explain how it works without simultaneously explaining the benefits. Everything about colostrum is beneficial. Hence the nickname, liquid gold. It is a priceless gift for your baby and sets them up for success well beyond the time that they consume it. Now, for a few more benefits of colostrum.

Besides acting as a preventative for jaundice and other sickness, the high concentration of antibodies and nutrients helps protect your baby and fight infections. Colostrum is high in vitamins, especially Vitamin A to help support and protect baby’s new eyes. High concentrations of Vitamin A are also responsible for its yellowish color. 

When babies are born, their stomachs are about the size of a single cherry and can only hold about 5-7 mL at a time. That’s about 1-1.5 teaspoons. A stomach that size will fill up quickly and also empty quickly. This allows for your baby to spend a lot of time at your breast, not only gaining nutrients and comfort, but also a lot of practice learning how to suck and breathe while nursing. It’s an important time to lay the groundwork for continuing breastfeeding and developing their skills and palates in their mouths. 

Now, because it seems to come in such small amounts, it’s easy to think that you have insufficient milk. This is rarely the case. Colostrum is meant to be in smaller supply because the baby's stomach is so small. It may be low in volume, but it is dense in quality and nutrients. As your baby grows, so will your supply. 

If you are concerned about your supply in any way, do not hesitate to contact a lactation consultant. We are all here to support you and your baby so that you can both be successful with breastfeeding!