Hello and welcome to episode 4 (our second last episode!) of the Breastfeeding 101 series!

We have covered sooo many important topics so far including supply and demand theory, correct nipple attachment, mastitis, nipple pain and damage, milk supply issues, the magical breast crawl and the importance of initiating breastfeeding in a baby-led way and so much more. Make sure you check out the first 3 episodes in this series if you haven’t already.

And don’t forget the entire breastfeeding series, including our bonus episode which discusses pumping, best pump brands, visual demonstration of correct latch and hand expressing technique, is up now inside my online program The Pregnancy Posse. You can find out more about the Pregnancy Posse and trial it for 7 days by visiting thepregnancyposse.com.

Amberley Harris, my go-to breastfeeding expert and Melbourne based midwife, is today going to teach us all about antenatal expressing.

I know I personally didn’t collect colostrum before birth because I found it so confusing and I wasn’t sure where to start. Amberley explains this process, and the importance of it, in such a simple and easy way that I am most definitely going to try this with my next pregnancy!

In today’s episode we discuss:

• The 3 main reasons why hand-expressing colostrum before birth is beneficial
• The different uses for colostrum down the track even if you don’t end up using it at birth
• Why you should only hand express and not use an electric pump before birth
• Options for those women with insufficient mammalian tissue who may struggle with lactation

Now if you are wanting to see Amberley’s visual demonstration of the hand expressing technique, that video is now up inside the Pregnancy Posse so you can find out more by jumping to thepregnancyposse.com.

This is our second last episode in this breastfeeding series so if you haven’t already please do subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast player so you don’t miss any podcast releases in the future.

In the last episode of the series we will be debunking some classic breastfeeding myths including whether you need to prepare your nipples before feeding, does drinking wine help you with your let down, will formula help your baby sleep through the night and so much more!

But for now… let’s get our hands on our breasts and learn all about hand expressing before birth!

To learn more about the wonderful Amberley you can find her @maternalinstinctsbyamberley

I’d love to hear whether you feel inspired to try your hand at antenatal expressing now - come and chat with over @physiolaura