FirstDrops

The FirstDrops project is a participatory, embodied design study that seeks to reimagine colostrum harvesting (CH) in late pregnancy and early postpartum. Harvesting colostrum (the first, nutrient-rich milk produced during this period) plays an important role in establishing breastfeeding, but existing CH resources are minimally interactive, rely on non-specific equipment (e.g., syringes and vials), and offer limited embodied guidance, often leaving parents feeling uncertain, pressured, or disconnected from their own bodies.

Drawing on soma design, which centres bodily, sensory, emotional, and reflective experience, often in uncomfortable situations, FirstDrops addresses this design gap by focusing on how CH is felt, learned, and negotiated in often messy and real-life contexts. The project builds on a qualitative pilot, funded by Collective Social Futures, which involved soma-informed, semi-structured interviews with parents who harvested or attempted to harvest colostrum, recruited via community organisations. Using pluralistic qualitative analysis, early findings highlight the importance of relaxation, privacy, reassurance, and bodily confidence, alongside frustrations with “fiddly” equipment and unrealistic representations of breastfeeding bodies. As one participant noted, seeing idealised demonstrations left them unprepared for ‘this teeny, teeny drop,’ while another described colostrum as an ‘insurance policy’ that helped them approach breastfeeding with greater calm.

The strength of this pilot work has already led to significant follow-on funding and the establishment of collaborations with partners at Cork University Maternity Hospital and researchers at the Tyndall National Institute. The design phase of the project is currently underway, and we are currently translating empirical insights into embodied design directions for future CH supports and tools.