I find teaching about colostrum covers some very important information for 
parents.  It educates them about the way babies need to learn to coordinate 
suck/swallow/breathe and how this thicker, smaller amount of liquid is perfect for 
this practice, how important it is to breastfeed frequently in the early days 
to provide baby with the super store of antibodies present those days (and on 
into second week or so) and how little of this substance is needed for a 
"feed."  One of my favorite parts of class is when I ask the class how much a 
newborn takes/needs those first feeds.  Dads and moms alike often answer within a 
range of 1-3 oz, and then I put about 5cc of juice (I use that because of the 
color being more visible and it's there for snack anyway) in a medicine cup 
and hear this collective, incredulous sigh when they see what little amount is 
needed.  I feel this is important and follow this demo with a brief discussion 
of manual expression of drops/cc's which can be given by spoon to baby who 
isn't breastfeeding well.  I also find the brief information about colostrum 
gives me the chance to comment on how Mother Nature sure knows what she's doing 
and what an amazing process breastfeeding is--this usually is received with lots 
of "aahs" and nods of agreement so I think it is worthwhile to spend time on 
colostrum.

I agree that not everything can be covered in classes but feel parents do 
need some detail, even if only to combat the possible misinformation they receive 
in hospital and from family/friends.

Barbara Latterner, BSN, RN, IBCLC


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