Feeding your baby

We support you in your infant feeding goals while in hospital.

Right from the moment you find out you are pregnant, the team at St Paul’s Hospital Pregnancy, Birth and Newborn Centre can help you prepare for feeding your baby.

Every family is unique and there are many options to ensure your baby is receiving all the nutrition they need to grow healthy and strong.

Our prenatal classes include infant feeding workshops taught by a certified lactation consultant. You can learn more about what will be covered or register for classes on our prenatal classes page.
We support parents who are able to and who want to collect colostrum during the latter stages of pregnancy. Colostrum is the first milk and it starts forming around 16 weeks of pregnancy. This first milk is very nutritious and has specific immune properties that can’t be replicated. If you choose to collect colostrum, you can do so safely starting around the 36th week of pregnancy.

To collect colostrum, you need to learn how to do hand expression of your milk. You can start practicing this skill in late pregnancy so that you will be confident in your abilities once your baby is born.

The colostrum collected during late pregnancy can be frozen and brought to the hospital when you come to deliver your baby. Your nurse can help you feed your baby the collected colostrum.

Colostrum collection kits are available at some St. Paul’s Hospital provider offices, or you can email prenatalclasses@providencehealth.bc.ca to connect with the infant feeding coordinator. The kits come with detailed instructions on how to collect colostrum.
All of our nursing team has taken additional infant feeding education to support you and your family after birth. If you are breast/chest feeding and require additional support, your nurse or doctor might refer you to our Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic. There, you might see a lactation consultant or a physician with expertise in breast/chest feeding. Each has advanced knowledge, training and expertise to support you to feed your infant.

If you and your baby are separated due to medical reasons while in hospital, your nurse will ensure your baby continues to receive human milk. We are able to offer your baby your colostrum if you collected it while you were still pregnant. In some situations, your nurse can help you collect fresh colostrum for your baby. If it is not possible to provide your own milk to your baby, we have pasteurized human donor milk available.
Before you leave the hospital, you need to feel comfortable with the plan for feeding your baby. Your nurse, midwife or one of our lactation consultants will help you create a feeding plan and tell you about resources in your community. Whatever feeding plan you choose, chosen, we are here to support you and your baby.

You are welcome to come back to St. Paul’s Hospital for our breastfeeding drop-in group, held every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. The free sessions are led by a lactation consultant and no registration is required. Sessions are held in the conference room just outside the doors to the Pregnancy, Birthing and Newborn unit.

If you choose to breast/chest feed, you may have some discomfort in your breasts. Some examples include sore nipples, firm, full, sore breasts, leaking milk, breast lumps, or mastitis. If any of these occur, keep breast/chest feeding. If breast/chest feeding becomes too painful, take your baby off your breast and express or pump your milk. Seek help from a lactation consultant, midwife, doctor or public health nurse.

For resources on how to breast/chest feed successfully, visit the websites listed under the “newborn care” section on our resources page.
Our Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic is staffed by a physician who is also a certified lactation consultant. If you are looking for additional infant feeding support, your doctor or midwife might refer you to this clinic. There, the physician can support you with specific procedures and medications.