If we ask anyone what color is breast milk, the vast majority will answer “white” without thinking. And no one will be surprised by that answer, right? Well I will tell you that it is not entirely true. Breast milk is not always white and can take on colors as diverse as yellow, green, or red .
In most cases it will be due to physiological variations: we know that colostrum is not the same color as mature milk, just as milk has a different color at the beginning and at the end of the teat, or when we cool it or let it rest. . But in other cases it may be due to pathological causes or substances taken by the mother.
Why is colostrum yellow?
Colostrum, the milk that the baby takes in the first days of life and that begins to be synthesized already in the last stages of pregnancy, is very rich in beta-carotene, which makes it acquire a yellowish / orange color .
This pigment is also found in carrots, pumpkin or mango, for example. The final milk of each tetada is also of a more yellowish color, because it contains a greater amount of fat.
Can breast milk be blue?
We have already seen that sometimes milk has a yellowish color and other times, especially at the beginning of the feeding or extraction, or after having left it to rest in the fridge, it has a bluish color .
Milk at the beginning of the breast is more watery, richer in carbohydrates and with lower fat content, and this can make it clearer, tending to bluish.
Milk can change color depending on diet
Much of the changes in milk color are due to the mother’s diet. Thus, eating certain foods and dyes can cause the color of breast milk to change.
A diet rich in orange sodas, jellies, juices … could give orange milk, just as an exaggerated consumption of green leafy vegetables (spinach, chard …) and / or isotonic drinks can generate green milk.
May change color due to medications: black breast milk
Probably the most striking case is that of a mother who began to produce black milk. This 29-year-old woman had started taking an acne drug (minocycline) three weeks earlier.
This medicine can also color other body fluids . There are other drugs that can color different body fluids, including breast milk, for example rifampicin (an antibiotic) that turns orange.
Green milk for vitamin supplements
A case is described in the literature of a mother who observed that her milk turned green. In this case, she weaned her baby because she thought the milk was not good. In her second lactation she observed him again and consulted him.
After analyzing it, they concluded that it was due to the intake of a multivitamin preparation and there was no problem for her baby to continue breastfeeding. Here I emphasize the importance of consulting with professionals when we have doubts regarding breastfeeding.
Red breast milk
Milk turns red or pink with some frequency. If we have cracks in the nipple, it is common for us to see pink milk or with strands of blood. Also in cases of mastitis or internal lesions of the ducts.
On many of these occasions we can see the baby spit up blood or have brown / black poop. This milk is perfectly suitable for our baby to drink. If we are expressing milk and the color “bothers” us, we can let it rest so that the remains of blood settle to the bottom.
Brown breast milk or rusty pipes syndrome
This happens in the first days of the baby’s life and is physiological. In the days before delivery, the blood supply to the breast increases greatly. This can cause small capillaries to break and when mixed with the milk it takes a brown appearance. In a few days, the milk will be white again (or have the different shades that we have previously discussed).
When should we consult?
We have commented that when breast milk has a color that is not white, it is usually due to physiological causes or the ingestion of certain foods or medications. However, on other occasions the change in milk color may be due to pathological causes.
It is important that we consult if the presence of blood in the milk is increasing and does not disappear in a few days, if the colored milk comes out only through a pore of the nipple or if the color of the milk does not change after having eliminated the food or medicine that colored it.
In addition, any discharge from the nipple outside the stage of pregnancy and lactation should be a reason for consultation. You also have to worry if the nipple discharge occurs spontaneously (without squeezing), is unilateral (only comes out on one side) or if the liquid is bloody or similar to egg white (clear and sticky).
Photos | Pixabay and Miryam Triana
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