What is colostrum?

Last Modified: 2/08/2023

colostrum

Transitioning to motherhood is no small feat. Whether it’s your first baby or you’re continuing to grow your family, you may choose breastfeeding as the primary source of your little one’s nutrition. But did you know your breast milk goes through three separate stages? Jeanne Buta, RN, IBCLC, and Danielle Wisniewski, RN, IBCLC, explain how this process works and how each one supports your baby’s development.

What is colostrum?

Colostrum is the first stage of breast milk. It develops during pregnancy and lasts for several days after birth. Colostrum is yellow and thick in consistency or can appear clear and runny. Babies need small amounts of food, and the mother’s colostrum is perfect in components and volume.

What is in colostrum?

According to the book, “Counseling the Nursing Mother A Lactation Consultant’s Guide, 5^th edition” by Judith Lauwers and Anna Swisher, colostrum consists of residual materials in the breast that mix with newly formed milk. It’s richer than mature milk in terms of its sodium, potassium, chloride, protein, fat-soluble vitamins, and minerals content. Colostrum engulfs and digests disease organisms and aids in rapid gut closure.

It contains:

Fat – Low amount for easy digestion (also lower in lactose than mature milk)
Antibodies leukocytes, IgA, IgG, IgM – Protects baby against disease (these are high in concentrations)
Protein – High in protein, which supplies rapid growth
Lactoferrin – Protects baby from infection, is anti-inflammatory and aids with iron absorption

Transitional milk

Around days 3 to 5, transitional milk replaces colostrum. This creamy milk has increased levels of lactose and fat for energy and growth.

Mature milk

A mother’s mature milk supply will come in sometime after transitional milk, usually around two weeks. This milk often appears thinner and may have a bluish tint at the beginning of the feeding with a creamy white consistency near the end. The mother’s volume will increase dramatically, and this milk will provide the baby with all the nutrition they need for the first six months of life.

Specific health benefits of human milk include:

Better dental health
An increased IQ
Lifelong protection against disease
Elimination of bacteria in the GI tract before affecting the infant
Protection against upper and lower respiratory infections, otitis media, diarrheal disease, urinary tract infections, sepsis, rotavirus, meningitis, leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and neuroblastoma
Lower risk of breast cancer, chronic autoimmune diseases, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart disease
A decreased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and the incidence of asthma
Production of antibodies against organisms passed into the breast by the suckling infant
Protection against the common cold, fever and severe illness through the passage of maternal antigens to the breastfed infant

Note: The milk of women who deliver prematurely is higher in sodium, chloride, nitrogen and immunoprotective factors.

How does breast milk compare to formula?

The composition of human milk makes it far superior to any artificial baby milk. Most formulas are slightly different from one another but generally meet the universal needs of an infant. However, formula is deficient in many constituents essential for optimal infant growth and health.

Formula has been found to:

Contain excessive or deficient amounts of micronutrients or macronutrients.
Completely lack certain essential elements.
Contain lower levels of nervonic acid (NA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Contain excessive amounts of vitamin D, which is toxic in high doses.
Be deficient in chloride.
Be contaminated with aluminum or bacteria.

Here are a few facts about formula options:

Soy formula can cause neurological deficits and renal problems.
The cost of formula can burden family finances, community resources and healthcare dollars.
Babies fed with formula may encounter health risks from contaminated water, mixing errors, and bacteria from formula left at room temperature for too long.
Infants fed cow’s milk are more likely to develop late neonatal hypocalcemia and dehydration.
A single feeding of cow’s milk in the first days of life can increase the rate of allergies.
Cow’s milk is the most common food allergen in infants.
Most infants with cow’s milk allergy develop symptoms before one month of age, often within one week after the introduction of cow’s milk protein-based formula.
Atopic dermatitis and eczema are more common in artificially fed infants.