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Colostrum: Your Baby’s Magical First Meal

What if I told you that there was an immunity-boosting, nutrient-packed superfood that helps newborns thrive…and it didn’t cost a cent. And, in fact, your body automatically makes this super-powered substance. It’s not magic…it’s colostrum! You probably know that it takes two to four days for breastmilk to come in after giving birth. That’s the usual time it takes from the first suckle to having your breasts become full of milk. So, if the milk hasn’t come in, yet, what the heck is your baby slurping down on day one? Ah…that’s the very precious liquid called colostrum.

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 The Truth About Colostrum Milk

It’s often referred to as ‘liquid gold’ due to its invaluable role in protecting and nourishing your newborn. You will have been producing colostrum since the 12-16 week stage of your pregnancy, so it’s actually been in your breasts all along. But it starts to be made in much higher quantities after you have given birth.

Articles of Interest

Understanding Colostrum: The Super Food for your Baby

You may not be familiar with the term, colostrum, but we’re guessing you’ve heard of ‘liquid gold.’ It’s nickname comes from its light yellow color (as well as a taste and smell similar to buttermilk), it’s thicker than mature milk and tailored to your newborn’s unique needs.

What Is Colostrum? A Breakdown of This Misunderstood Supplement

Colostrum… Yes, it’s kind of weird, but slightly intriguing...That is to most people who aren’t moms. For moms, colostrum isn’t strange at all. They know it as the first milk they produce at the end of pregnancy and shortly after birth. Mothers value colostrum because it’s a natural, nutrient-dense superfood that gives their baby everything it needs to thrive at the beginning of life. It’s the liquid gold version of the stuff we’ve been told we should drink since the ‘80s because it “does a body good.”

Antenatal expression of colostrum

It’s not always obvious that colostrum is being produced until you check, but you may notice that you are making colostrum from around 16 weeks of pregnancy until the first few days after birth.

Colostrum – The Superfood For Your Newborn

Colostrum is the earliest breastmilk produced, beginning in mid-pregnancy (12-18 weeks) and is continually produced for the first few days after baby’s birth. It is thick, sticky, concentrated milk and is usually yellow, clear or white, although it could be other colors as well. It is made up of immune factors, protein, sugar, and fats.

Colostrum: The only superfood a newborn needs

Colostrum is nutrient-dense, containing protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, which aid in fighting infections and boosting a baby’s immune system. Colostrum is loaded with white blood cells that produce antibodies used to combat bacteria and viruses. This is why many refer to it as a superfood for newborns. Colostrum is rich in immunoglobulins ready to fight infection.

Expressing colostrum before baby is born

It is possible to express your colostrum while you are still pregnant and freeze it so you can feed it to your newborn baby, if you need to. This is called 'antenatal expressing'.

Here's Why Colostrum Is So Important For Your Newborn

Although the amount of colostrum is low, it is high in concentrated nutrition. It is the perfect first food for your newborn baby.

How does colostrum help athletes?

Colostrum is produced by all mammals in the first few days after giving birth. This first milk is packed with a huge amount of goodies, including immunoglobulins, anti-microbial peptides and other bioactive molecules including growth factors – a nutritional armoury designed to get a newborn through the critical first few days of life. Its properties have been revered for thousands of years across many cultures: in ancient Chinese medicine it was regarded as a vital health-giving potion, and for the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania it has long been regarded as an important part of a healthy diet. In Britain, dairy farmers refer to it as beestings: traditionally, mother cows would be milked after feeding their newborn calves and any surplus colostrum was used to make an extra-creamy, and very healthy, pudding.

Understanding Colostrum - the Baby Super Food

Upon delivering your little bundle of joy, your breasts first release colostrum (which you’ve actually been producing since mid-pregnancy), a rich, sticky, clear or yellow substance — which has earned it the rep of “liquid gold” — a precursor to your breastmilk. This protein-packed fluid truly is invaluable — as far as your baby’s nutrition is concerned. Colostrum is often overlooked, but remains a vitally important substance for your infant.

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StatPearls

Human colostrum is the ideal food for human newborns and is preferable over formula or milk from other animals. The proportions of nutrients in human milk are different than other animals and therefore suited better for humans. Although formula simulates human milk as much as possible, the components of colostrum and mature milk, such as immunoglobulins, leukocytes, as well as antioxidants, enzymes, and hormones, give colostrum and mature human milk many advantages over formula.