Recently, a video shared by a nursing mother in which she shows a couple of bags with her expressed milk has gone viral on Tik Tok. In the first it shows that its content is the usual color of milk, and in the second, curiously, the milk is not white, but has turned pink .
What happened? How is it possible? Well yes, it is not usual but the color of breast milk: it is not always white (or the yellowish-white color by which we know it). Due to physiological variations (if it is colostrum or mature milk, the time of feeding, infections, etc.) as well as due to substances taken by the mother, the color of milk can acquire different colors such as green, yellow, blue or pink, as in this case.
Jo Johnson Overby, who is breastfeeding her newborn baby, uploaded the video showing the expressed milk and the following message “Strawberry milk brought in by aggressive blockage.”
@jojohnsonoverby Strawberry milk brought to you by an aggressive clog 🥲 #newmom #breastfeeding #pumping
♬ original sound – Jo Johnson
“No one told me that when I had a baby … if I chose to breastfeed, my milk would come in a variety of colors,” Jo says in the video.
Why is breast milk pink?
The color is due to the mother’s blood . When there are cracks in the nipple, or in cases of mastitis or internal lesions of the ducts, the milk may turn pink, because the whitish fluid is stained with small amounts of blood, or it may contain strands of blood.
Also in these cases we may see the baby regurgitate blood or that their poop is brown / blackish.
Why is there blood in the milk?
In case the blood is coming from cracked nipples, it is best to let the nipples air dry as long as possible for them to heal. And if the pain when breastfeeding is unbearable, you can express your milk manually until you feel better, since the breast pump could damage the nipple more.
Nipple shields can also reduce pain in some cases, but it is important that we make sure that the size is correct, they are well placed and the baby latch on is appropriate.
As we have said, the blood in the milk could also be due to mastitis, which is caused by the obstruction of a duct that has been infected, and whose symptoms you should not ignore. If you feel inflammation and pain, you have a fever, and you notice a hot chest with reddened areas and small lumps when palpating, go to the doctor.
Can the baby take it?
This milk is perfectly suitable for the 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.
In fact, it is convenient to continue pumping or for the baby to continue drinking to unblock the ducts and maintain milk production.
In Babies and more | This is mastitis: a mother shares her painful experience to inform nursing mothers
