Colostrum is the earliest breast milk produced by mothers ready for babies at birth and is also called liquid gold. It is highly concentrated, full of protein and has disease fighting antibodies. It is nutrient rich and has everything the baby needs in the early days after birth. It is thick, sticky, concentrated milk and is usually yellow, clear or white, although it could be other colors as well.
If you are not able to breastfeed for any reason in the early hours, hand express the colostrum to feed your baby, hand expression yields more volume of colostrum than using a breast pump.
Colostrum is very important for pre-term babies as it has many health benefits.
By the fourth day, the more mature whitish thin milk starts coming in for most mothers, babies will start drinking colostrum mixed with more mature milk. The colostrum will remain in the milk for the first few weeks. Colostrum prevents jaundice as it acts like a laxative to help your baby pass the dark first poop(meconium). Colostrum is the most important first food for all infants.
References:
https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/colostrum-general/
