At how many weeks pregnant do your breasts start leaking

When Do Your Breasts Start Leaking During Pregnancy?

This is the first nutrient your baby receives after birth, because you may not produce breast milk until one or two days after the delivery of your baby. Some women experience leaking from their breasts during the first three to four weeks of pregnancy. However, this is not that common. It is, however, more common for some women to show leaking breasts between the 12th to 14th weeks or by the end of this trimester.

Other women have leaking from their breasts during the second trimester, sometime between 26 to 30 weeks, which is most common.

As your delivery date gets closer, you are more likely to have leaking from the breasts. Rarely, a few women begin producing milk by the third trimester. Those who have been leaking during pregnancy will probably experience greater amounts of leaking as their due date approaches. However, most women do not really experience any leaking until after the birth of their baby.

In general, there is no need to be too concerned whether or not you are leaking milk during pregnancy. Even if you do not experience leaking right after giving birth, it does not mean that you will not be able to breastfeed your baby. If you are still concerned, you may consult your doctor. Your health care provider can also advise you about breastfeeding when you think you cannot produce enough milk.

Should I Worry About Breast Leaking During Pregnancy?

During the many weeks before the birth of your child, your body normally changes to prepare for its coming. This includes changes in your anatomy to prepare for labor and childbirth as well as changes in function to prepare for feeding your newborn baby. Your breasts may begin to produce colostrum, which contains a high amount of protein and less sugar and fat than breast milk. This makes it easier for the baby to digest his first food. Nature also designs this substance to be rich in antibodies, which will protect the baby from getting sick after birth.

How Can You Deal With Breast Leaking During Pregnancy?

What Else You Need to Know?

Before having children, I naively assumed the only thing to really change about a woman's body during pregnancy was the growth of her stomach. Ignorance is bliss, right? But now, after three pregnancies, I've seen my body do a lot. So if this is your first baby, you're probably feeling the same confusion about the phenomenon that is your now-ample breasts producing milk — and might be considering some nursing pads. But when do you start leaking breast milk during pregnancy? It can help to feel prepared, because when you suddenly nap and wake up with wet spots, it's quite a shock.

During pregnancy, the hormonal fluctuations result in breast enlargement, increased blood flow, and the growth of your milk-producing glands, Dr. Kecia Gaither, OB-GYN and Director of Perinatal Services for NYC Health+Hospitals/Lincoln, tells Romper. This is all in preparation for breastfeeding once you deliver, and she says that in the late second trimester to early third trimester, you might notice some yellowish fluid coming from your breasts. “This is called colostrum, which is a nutrient-rich, immune-boosting fluid that your newborn will consume in the first few days after delivery," Gaither says.

Although it is atypical, leaking breasts can even begin as early as the first trimester, according to Patricia Evans, a nurse practitioner with Memorial Care in Orange County, California. “Most women will not experience it until later, if at all, but seeing some lactation in the first 12 weeks gestation is not cause for alarm. You should not try to pump colostrum during pregnancy, because it can cause contractions that send you into preterm labor."

Experts say that hand expression is safe to do after 37 weeks, however. Natalie Telyatnikov, founder of Better Postpartum, explains to Romper that at this point “colostrum harvesting” can be done to help supplement breastfeeding later. “Women can store small droppers of saved colostrum in bags in the freezer, and later defrost them in the refrigerator or at room temperature once the baby has arrived. This previously extracted colostrum can be used to give a mother's nipples a rest between feedings to help heal nipple damage, and a stored supply comes in handy if the baby has an improper latch and needs to be fed through syringes while learning how to feed from the breast." But don't panic if you don't harvest this colostrum, or if you don't even notice any leaking from your breasts. Everybody is different, and not seeing any breast milk now doesn't mean you won't successfully breastfeed later.

But if all goes well with your delivery, your baby will likely want to nurse pretty soon after birth, and the nurses or midwives present can coach you on proper positioning and getting a good latch. At this time, it is almost definitely colostrum that your baby will be getting. In fact, most women don't produce breast milk until two to three days after the baby is born. And despite what you might think due to the scant amount, this is no second class beverage. Colostrum is thick and nutrient-dense and has been hailed by some as "baby's first superfood," according to Parents.

The low volume of colostrum you produce might concern you, but it really is enough to nourish your baby in the beginning. Telyatnikov explains that on the day they are born, a baby's stomach can only hold a few milliliters of liquid. The stomach grows quickly, but even still, at 3 days old it's only the size of a marble, and by day five, a ping pong ball. Colostrum might not look like much, but it's not called "liquid gold" for nothing. And it's perfectly normal to see signs of it before you've even given birth. You don't have to do anything with it, just take in all the changes happening to your body.

Experts:

Dr. Kecia Gaither, an OB-GYN, women's health expert, and Director of Perinatal Services for NYC Health+Hospitals/Lincoln

Patricia Evans, CNM, nurse practitioner based in Orange County, California

Natalie Telyatnikov, founder of Better Postpartum

This article was originally published on July 10, 2018