Colostrum: Your Baby's First Meal

By the time you give birth, your body will have already begun the process of making colostrum to start your baby on the road to good health.

Colostrum is a thick, somewhat sticky milk that is usually yellow or orange in color. It provides all the nutrients and fluid that your newborn needs in the early days. It also contains many substances to protect your baby against infections.

Its color and thickness come from these protective factors being concentrated. Compared with more mature human milk, colostrum is also higher in protein, slightly lower in sugar, and significantly lower in fat.

While your breasts will not feel full the day that you give birth, you already have enough colostrum to nourish your baby. Your body will produce colostrum for several days after delivery until your milk increases in amount and becomes more creamy or white in color—a time often referred to as the milk "coming in."

Your baby will be born with a suckling instinct, though it is stronger in some babies than in others. Since this instinct is intense immediately after birth, it is best to introduce your baby to the breast within the first hour or so of life. Not only will their suckling at your breast stimulate your breasts to produce more milk—beginning the establishment of a reliable milk supply—but it will signal your uterus to contract and decrease the chance of excessive bleeding after delivery.

This first feeding will also help your baby begin to learn how to nurse. Placing the newborn baby skin to skin against your chest allows them to smell the colostrum and encourages them naturally to latch on and begin their first feeding. In fact, the initial phase of breastfeeding is a learning process for both mother and baby.

Some newborns show little interest in nursing at first. Fortunately, newborns do not need much fluid. Their mothers' breasts contain only small amounts of the very important colostrum. At this stage, it is more important that babies feed frequently than it is for them to feed for long periods of time. Since the breasts are not yet extremely full of milk, they remain soft and supple after delivery, making it easier for the baby to learn to suckle.

In these early days, it is normal for a baby to lose some weight. Much of this weight loss consists of extra fluid that is shed as the baby adjusts to life outside the womb. In the days after delivery, your baby's appetite and need for fluids will increase. About two to five days after birth, the colostrum production will give way to a higher volume of transitional milk and then mature milk.