ANSWER

Although finding blood in expressed breastmilk is a frightening experience for the mother, you can be assured that this is not an uncommon occurrence, especially in mothers who are nursing their first baby.

There are several medical conditions that can cause blood to appear in a mother's milk. They are all relatively common, they end quickly, and none are considered serious.

The most common cause of blood appearing in the breastmilk is a damaged nipple. If the nipple is abraded, or has open blisters or cuts, then the tissue will bleed when it undergoes stress (for example, a healthy baby sucking vigorously). A small amount of blood will appear when pumping, or it may show up in the baby's spit-up or bowel movements.

Once the sore area of the nipple has healed, the bleeding will stop. Swallowing a small amount of his mother's blood will not harm the baby in any way. After all, they shared a blood supply for nine months before birth! For more information about sore nipples and how to treat them, see the article "Nipple Soreness".Another cause of blood in the milk is "vascular engorgement", also called "Rusty Pipe Syndrome". This condition typically occurs in a first time mother, most often occurs in both breasts (but may occur in one breast first), and also been noted in dairy cows. Rusty Pipe Syndrome occurs due to the increased blood flow to the breast, in combination with the rapid development of milk producing tissue in the expectant mother. There is no medical treatment for this condition, but it usually clears up within a week after birth, and doesn't reoccur after that.

Other less common causes of blood in the milk include fibrocystic breast disease, intraductal papillomas (a benign tumor in a milk duct which usually can't be felt as a lump, typically occurs in only one breast, and usually stops spontaneously without any treatment), or broken capillaries due to trauma to the breast (including hand expression involving rough treatment of the breast or nipple tissue, or improper use of a breast pump).

In most cases involving blood in breastmilk, there is no treatment except time. There is usually not much pain involved, unless the nipples are raw and abraded, or the breast tissue is extremely tender due to engorgement.

Given the facts that these conditions are almost always self-limiting, there is no treatment for them, and the small amount of blood ingested is not harmful to the baby, the usual recommendation is to continue breastfeeding and/or pumping and wait for the bleeding to stop. If the bleeding is accompanied by pain, or hasn't stopped within two weeks after birth, then you should consult your physician and/or lactation consultant in order to establish what the cause is and how to deal with it.

Congratulations on your new arrival! Seeing blood in her milk is one of the scariest experiences a mother can have, but it usually disappears within a few days and doesn't happen again. Try to hang in there -- the first couple of weeks of breastfeeding are definitely the most challenging, but the results are well worth the effort.

-- Anne, IBCLC

Send Page To a Friend