Pink breast milk..wth?!!!

[tattlebaby]

OMG…I'm trying not to freak out here, but after putting baby to sleep I came into the kitchen to do my usual routine of pumping Breastmilk for the next days bottles, only to discover pink streaks in my breast milk!! I freaked out and threw it down the drain..2 full ounces!! God knows I've been experiencing a milk shortage too..Great ..WTH is this??? Has this happened to anyone? I didn't stop to think that baby fed off that same breast right before going to sleep just now..so now I'm really freaking out..Omg so one please?!!!??!!!!

 

[VALiz]

Maybe just a little blood? Do your nipples have any cracks? If so, it would be harmless to baby.

 

[tattlebaby]

No no pain or cracked nipples. Other side is pumping clear white milk as usual.

 

[Larkspur]

It is blood, but there's no need to worry about it. Blood spreads really easily in milk (just like in water) so it looks worse than it is! It's also safe for your baby to drink.

Here's a good link. https://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/blood-in-breastmilk.html

 

[SarahBear]

As mentioned, it's blood and safe for for baby. No need to dump it if it happens again and no need to wooly c about nursing. I'm sure it was a bit of a shock, but at least now you know!

 

[staralfur]

Definitely sounds like blood, happened to me all the time when my LO was little! It's still totally fine to give him the milk/feed off of that side. If you're using an electric pump you might want to turn the suction down on that side until it heals.

 

[Rhiannon137]

Wanted to echo that it's totally fine. Also, it can look stringy bc the blood tends to adhere to clogs and fat in the milk. You might want to do some breast massage in a warm shower to loosen up any clogged ducts that might be associated w the bleeding.

 

[tattlebaby]

Awesome advice everyone..THANK YOU!!!!! Weird that I could potentially be experiencing clogged ducts, when I'm lately struggling to produce. Especially when its that time of the month, has anyone else experienced this?

 

[noon_child]

As you are quite far in to your bf journey so the blood is unlikely to be related to cracked nipples or burst blebs, I'd tell your doctor about it. The milk is still safe for LO but you wouldn't ignore a bleeding breast if you weren't breastfeeding so I don't think you should ignore it just because you are bf. My mum has had blood from her nipples, and doctors found polyps on her milk ducts that had to be removed. Not wanting to scare you but just worth being thorough.