"I'm worried. What if my baby starves at my breast?"
"How can that happen?"
"I'm told my milk won't come in for several days."
"That's true. But you'll have colostrum."
Have you been a part of or overheard a similar conversation?

Colostrum is produced by your breasts in the first days after birth. This special, rich milk is low in fat and high in carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and antibodies to help keep your baby healthy. It is extremely easy to digest, and is therefore the perfect first food for your newborn.

"We docs who do breastfeeding medicine consider colostrum 'liquid gold,'" says Dr. Jeanne Ballard, FAAP, of Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. "It is a living substance tailor-made for one's own baby. Colostrum represents 100 percent of the early milk on the first day of life."

Indeed, colostrum actually works as a natural and safe vaccine containing large quantities of the antibody secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). It also contains concentrations of leukocytes, protective white cells that can destroy disease-causing bacteria and viruses. "It contains live white blood cells specifically equipped to protect the baby's bowel from inflammation," says Dr. Ballard.

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