Blood in the milk??

Question

I just finished pumping and noticed the milk was pink. My nipple has been cracked for over a week now, is that blood from the crack or from the inside? What should I do??? I threw it out of course but is that something to be concern about?

Answer

You can actually still feed milk with blood in it to your baby. But no shame at all in tossing it. I've had that before, and I just didn't like the idea of it. Bleeding nipples can be caused from many reasons. Too strong of suction, wrong sized flanges, mastitis, thrush. If you don't have any other signs of mastitis or thrush, try just pumping on a lower setting for a bit to help your nipples heal. And then try a different size flange. Also to help heal them, try putting on nipple cream or coconut oil to prevent infection. I got thrush from cracked and bleeding nipples. It is horrible. And mastitis is worse! Pumping/breastfeeding is never supposed to be painful, so when you experience pain, something isn't right. Try doing those things, and if it's still not getting better, contact a lactation consultant to help.

Answer

You can still feed to baby. Don’t throw such hard work down the drain.

Blood in the milk??

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