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Ask A Doula
Questions and Answer

Q. At what month should my breast milk start to come in? I'm now 34 weeks pregnant and I haven't even seen the first sign of milk. Should I worry or will nature take it's course?

A. Dear Katoma,

Breastmilk can occassionally be squeezed from the nipple of a pregnant woman at 34 weeks, but that is very unlikely unless she has breastfed a child prior to this pregnancy. The milk usually comes in during the first week post partum. Sometimes it takes as long as seven days for the milk to come in. When you get closer to your due date you might try to squeeze out a thick yellowish substance - that will be the colostrum, a very densely concentrated fluid that is the perfect food for newborn babies. Most women do not have milk before birth. The very process of labor helps to shift the hormones into a milk-producing mode for many women.

Hope this helps.

Ilana Stein has been working professionally with pregnant women since 1983 as a childbirth educator, labor assistant and breastfeeding consultant. She was originally certified by the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth (The Bradley Method), The Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE), and Doulas of North America (DONA). She teachs the ALACE Labor Assistant training workshop nationwide. She has spoken at conferences and at the New York University Graduate Program in Midwifery about labor support. She is a Positive Pregnancy and Parenting Fitness (PPPF) instructor and La Leche League Leader. She is also a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor at the local YMCA. She volunteers as the coordinator of the annual New York Area YM-YWCA Women’s Wellness Weekend.