Lactation Program Offers New Colostrum Resource
August 1st, 2025 | NewsThe Lactation Care Management team has developed a handout for patients and providers to help spread awareness of the benefits of colostrum and education surrounding normal physiological colostrum feeding. The goal of the handout is to build parents’ confidence when feeding colostrum to their infant and to help limit unnecessary formula supplementation in healthy infants. Recent data analysis tells us that our region of the country has higher-than-average non-medically indicated formula supplementation in the early postpartum period. This correlates with misunderstandings around the importance and adequacy of colostrum for newborns. Colostrum, the first milk that an expectant parent makes beginning around the 16th week of pregnancy, may not sound like news. It is news to many new parents.
Colostrum is typically produced in very small amounts during the first days after delivery. When parents are not aware of the small quantity and high caloric density of colostrum, they may be eager to offer other food sources in the early days of their child’s life. While there are times when formula supplementation is medically indicated in the first days, we have no human milk substitutes that contain the important immune factors and oligosaccharides that are the foundation of a healthy immune and digestive system. Supporting parents to provide colostrum exclusively and supplement with infant formula when medically indicated reduces acute illness and extends the duration of human milk feeding.
For more information on AHP’s Lactation Care Management Program, please contact Catherine Wightman, Lactation Care Management Program Manager.
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