The color of breast milk is usually yellow, white, clear, cream, tan, or blue-tinged. However, at some point during your breastfeeding experience, you may be surprised to find that your breast milk can be other colors as well.
Breast milk is typically white with a yellowish or bluish tint, depending on how long you've been breastfeeding. But the hue can change based on many different factors, and most of the time, a new color of breast milk is harmless.
A color that's normal for one mother might not be normal for another — so you shouldn't necessarily go out and compare color notes with all your breastfeeding friends. But in most cases, breast milk is lighter in appearance, usually white, although it can have a slightly yellowish or bluish hue.
"Mature milk is usually white, light yellow, or has a blue tinge," Shields says. "Sometimes, it takes on the appearance of skim milk. However, it's important to note that while mature milk is typically white, it can change colors depending on your diet and from the foods you eat.
Colostrum, which is the highly-concentrated and nutritious first milk your body makes after giving birth, is often thick and yellow in color. You're getting your share of beta-carotene.
Bright red, pink, coffee/chocolate brown, black or olive-green coloured breastmilk may mean there is some blood. The most common cause of blood in breastmilk is a cracked nipple. A less common condition is an intraductal papilloma — a small benign wart-like growth on the lining of a milk duct, which bleeds.
During pregnancy and in the first few days after birth the ducts and milk making cells in your breasts grow and stretch, extra blood flows to your breasts and sometimes leaks into your ducts – this can make your milk look brown or rust-colored (like water from a rusty pipe, hence the name).
Whole milk is often denoted by red, while 2% is most often colored blue. 1% and skim colors vary by region or dairy, with common colors for these lines being purple, green, yellow, pink, or light blue.
Breast milk can turn into a pinkish color due to colonization by Serratia marcescens, a species of rod-shaped gram-negative bacteria that produce a reddish-orange tripyrrole pigment called prodigiosin1 that has been related to a variety of diseases and even newborn deaths.
Orange Milk
Again, your colostrum may take on an orange-y color, which is entirely normal. Breast milk may also be orange because of the foods you've consumed. For example, foods high in beta-carotene such as yams, squash, and carrots can turn your milk orange.
Can you lactate when you're not pregnant? Yes, it's possible to lactate if you're not pregnant. Inducing lactation is a complex process that usually involves using hormone-mimicking drugs for several months to produce milk.
Milk production is a demand and supply process. As milk is removed from your breasts, your body is signalled to make more milk. The more frequently and thoroughly the breasts are emptied (though breasts are never truly 'emptied'), the faster they try to refill.
The color of breast milk is usually yellow, white, clear, cream, tan, or blue-tinged. However, at some point during your breastfeeding experience, you may be surprised to find that your breast milk can be other colors as well. You may notice that the color of your breast milk changes over time.
Breast milk tastes like milk, but probably a different kind than the store-bought one you're used to. The most popular description is “heavily sweetened almond milk.” The flavor is affected by what each mom eats and the time of day. Here's what some moms, who've tasted it, also say it tastes like: cucumbers.
You may hear breast milk experts refer to “foremilk” and “hindmilk.” Thin foremilk often comes out of a breast that hasn't been pumped or fed from in a while. Foremilk early in a pumping or breastfeeding session can be almost clear or blue compared to the creamier, fattier, yellowish hindmilk that comes later.
Breast milk generally has very little odour. Sometimes it may smell or taste like something the mother has eaten recently, or been stored next to in the fridge, such as onion or garlic. Sometimes it is said to smell or taste sweet or soapy, metallic or even a little sour.
It contains 1 to 5 million white blood cells per milliliter. Even on the low end of the spectrum, that's 100 times more than what your blood carries! No wonder colostrum is referred to as “liquid gold”!
Immune System Booster: If you get sick and drink breast milk, it is believed to boost the immune system and shorten the length and severity of a cold.
Blood in your breast milk can also be caused by rusty pipe syndrome, or vascular engorgement. This results from an increase in blood flow to the breasts shortly after giving birth. Your first milk or colostrum may have a rusty, orange, or pinkish color. There is no specific treatment for vascular engorgement.
Lactic acid, which comes from milk, is included in many skin brightening treatments and creams that treat dark spots. But there's no clinical evidence to suggest that milk or lactic acid makes your skin lighter.
When light hits the tiny micelle particles it causes the light to refract and scatter. This causes milk to reflect all light wavelengths and absorb none, making it appear white.
Whole milk - red
Among the major purveyors surveyed, red is the most unanimously used cap color for this full-fat beverage. So if you prefer drinking whole milk, which studies say can lower the risk of diabetes and help fight obesity, it's OK to see a little red in the dairy aisle.
Freshly expressed or pumped milk can be stored: At room temperature (77°F or colder) for up to 4 hours. In the refrigerator for up to 4 days. In the freezer for about 6 months is best; up to 12 months is acceptable.
In most cases, it's safe or even helpful to continue breastfeeding if you see blood in your breast milk. This can sometimes be a sign of health problems for the mother, but it's not dangerous for babies. Some mothers find that blood in the breast milk causes babies to spit up more, but this is rarely cause for concern.
Yes, it is considered safe to continue breastfeeding and giving your child pumped breast milk even if your nipples are bleeding or you notice blood in your breast milk. A small amount of blood in your breast milk is not harmful, and it will not affect your baby or your milk.