Primo-Lacto: A closed system for colostrum collection

For mothers of premature or medically fragile newborns, collecting colostrum, the first nutrient- and antibody-rich milk produced after birth, can be incredibly difficult. Because only tiny amounts are produced in the first days of life, every drop matters. Yet hospitals often rely on improvised methods such as spoons, cups, bottles, and syringes that require multiple transfer steps, leading to wasted colostrum, contamination risk, and frustration for both families and clinicians. Mothers in the study described feeling discouraged when they could not successfully collect enough milk for their baby.

We ran the study at three hospitals: Sharp Mary Birch in San Diego, John Muir in Walnut Creek, and Memorial Hospital of South Bend. 67 mothers took part, along with 89 nurses and lactation consultants, all within three days of birth. The mothers had delivered before 34 weeks, or had babies who could not yet latch.

Each mother acted as her own control. She expressed for five minutes the standard way, by hand and by pump, then for five minutes with Primo-Lacto.

Mothers found Primo-Lacto easier to use and felt more confident with it, both hand expressing and pumping (p < 0.01). Clinicians reported significantly less colostrum lost, and no added time.

The study showed where the first design fell short.

Slip-tip syringes worked loose thirteen times, from the funnel and from the adapter. Some colostrum was too thick to move through the funnel quickly. A few mothers felt the pump had lost suction.

I shortened the funnel so thick colostrum travels faster. I rebuilt the pump adapter around threaded ENFit syringes, which cannot pull apart, and made the collection cup screw on instead of push on. I shortened the adapter shaft and widened an internal opening to bring the vacuum back.

Primo-Lacto was designed as a dedicated closed-system colostrum collection device that routes colostrum directly into a feeding syringe during both hand expression and pumping. Developed through years of clinical collaboration and iterative design, the system was shown in a multi-site clinical study to improve ease of use, reduce colostrum loss, and increase confidence among mothers and clinicians. By simplifying collection and minimizing wasted milk, Primo-Lacto helps families capture more of what clinicians often call “liquid gold” during one of the most vulnerable moments in newborn care.

See Primo-Lacto at Lansinoh