I think the benefit is that if you are in any way unable to feed baby straight away, then you/your partner/a nurse can feed the baby your colostrum until you are able to 😊
I had a planned c section first time and harvested about 10 syringes. It took a while for my milk to come in and for us both to get the hang of it, for the first few days I forgot all about them and was just struggling through thinking I was doing the right thing and he lost nearly 10% of his body weight. Once we remembered the syringes it helped make sure he was getting something and certainly helped my mental state at the time if nothing else.
I harvested with my first baby and ended up throwing the whole lot away unused after a few months. I really hated hand expressing and felt so sore after that I didn't do it with my second. It was nice to know I had a back up with my first but there is always formula if need be. By my second I felt more confident that my boobs would provide because they had done it before
I did it with my first but also didn’t use it. I think I’ll do it again just in case there are problems breastfeeding, but I won’t go overboard. I won’t start until I’m on maternity leave - 38 or 39 weeks as I don’t want the baby to come before the grandparents arrive! (But last time it definitely didn’t do anything to speed things up as I was 8 days overdue!)
Thank you for the info everyone!!!
No benefit if you plan to breastfeed. I think its more for people who arent going to. I’m on baby number 3 and never have x