There are basically two reasons that a mother's milk is red. Sometimes a small rupture in a blood capillary in the nipple or the breast may turn milk pink. The second reason is a bacterium called Serratia marsescens. With blood, there's not much you can do about its presence in milk except ignore it.
Pink, Red, or Rust
You may have a small amount of blood in your breast milk. Don't panic! Having blood in your breast milk is typically caused by a rupture in a blood capillary or cracked nipples, and is not harmful to your baby. In most cases, the bleeding will go away on its own in a few days.
Seeing blood in your milk may be alarming at first, however it is not harmful to babies, and if you experience it you can continue breastfeeding – in most cases it will stop within a few days.
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.
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.
You may be alarmed to find that you've suddenly pumped “strawberry milk” for your baby. Red or pink breast milk usually indicates that some blood has mixed in with the milk. According to RN and IBCLC lactation consultant Shantel Harlin, “Generally, blood in breast milk is not a contraindication for feeding your baby.
Pink or brown breast milk
A breast infection called mastitis or, much more rarely, breast cancer can sometimes lead to pink or brown milk too.
Breast milk that appears reddish-brown sometimes results from a phenomenon called rusty pipe syndrome. ADVERTISEMENT. Typically, rusty pipe syndrome happens during the first few days of breastfeeding. A type of breast engorgement, it results from increased blood flow that accompanies an increase in milk production.
But the mastitis may also include other signs, like these: Flu-like symptoms like fever, chills, body aches, nausea, vomiting, or fatigue. Yellowish discharge from the nipple that looks like colostrum. Breasts that feel tender, warm, or hot to the touch and appear pink or red.
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.
If you pump—or freeze—your breast milk, you may have noticed that (sometimes) it's a different color. While breast milk is considered "liquid gold," it can take on various hues: from white and yellow to blue, green, and brown.
“Pink or light red milk is safe to feed your baby. Bright red milk caused by an active bleed is also safe, but it's difficult to digest and might cause your baby to throw up,” Leibson explained.
You may notice pink, orange, or red-tinged breast milk after eating foods that are naturally these colors, or after having foods or drinks that contain red, yellow, or orange food dye. Beets, orange soda, and red or orange fruit drinks can all cause your milk to turn different shades of pink, red, and orange.
A breast rash is rarely an emergency. But make an appointment with your doctor if your breast rash doesn't respond to self-care, or if it's accompanied by: Fever. Severe pain.
Some detect a “sour” or “spoiled” odor or taste. Accompanying these changes are concerns that the milk is no longer good for the baby. In addition, while sometimes the baby doesn't seem to care and drinks a bottle of the expressed milk readily, other times the baby refuses to drink the milk.
Your breast becomes redder than usual, hot, and swollen. You see pus or blood in your milk. You see red streaks on your breast from the areola to the underarm. A cracked nipple looks infected.
Swelling, tenderness, and warmth in breast tissue. Skin redness, most often in wedge shape. Tender or enlarged lymph nodes in armpit on the same side.
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. The bleeding usually disappears within a week of giving birth.
A clogged milk duct causes a red, tender and painful lump in your breast. It can lead to infection, so it's important to know the signs of a clogged duct and how to treat it at home.
They include: a swollen area on your breast that may feel hot and painful to touch – the area may become red but this can be harder to see if you have darker skin. a wedge-shaped breast lump or a hard area on your breast. a burning pain in your breast that might be constant or only when you breastfeed.
The infection should clear up within 10 days but may last as long as three weeks. Mastitis sometimes goes away without medical treatment. To reduce pain and inflammation, you can: Apply warm, moist compresses to the affected breast every few hours or take a warm shower.
“Pink milk caused by small amounts of blood is considered safe for babies to consume. It takes only a tiny amount of blood to make breast milk pink, and most babies digest this easily.
The general answer is, yes this milk is safe to feed to your baby.