baby

Within a matter of two days, Jody's breast milk turned blue.

A mum of four has shared a photo of two bottles of her pumped breast milk just a couple of days apart, and there’s a considerable difference between the two. While one resembles the “normal” colour of breast milk, the other looks… well, a little bit blue.

Sharing to her Facebook page, Jody Fisher Birmingham explained that she was left shocked when the colour of her breast milk changed to blue after he daughter, Nancy, was vaccinated two days prior.

“Nancy had her one-year injections on Tuesday afternoon, the ‘normal’ colour milk is from the day before she had them, the ‘blue’ colour milk is from today – two days after she had them,” the UK mum shared in a post that has since gone viral.

Although she was shocked at first, she came across a theory that it was her body’s defence mechanism to protect her child.

“It’s blue from all the antibodies my body is producing, as it thinks she’s sick with what she was vaccinated against!” she claimed. “When she feeds, her saliva sends signals to my body to produce more milk with illness specific antibodies!”

Jody continued by sharing that the change in colour makes her appreciate the female body even more.

“This is one of the reasons I’m still breastfeeding 13 months on,” she explained on social media. “Way to go boobies.”

Jody added that she is in “no way shaming formula”, explaining that is how she partly fed her first three children.

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“I was merely showing what women’s bodies can do when their children are poorly, and this is one of the reasons I’m still breastfeeding at 13 months,” she wrote. “This goes to show the vaccines are doing exactly what they are meant to do, and so is my daughter’s body and mine.”

Why breastmilk changes colour.

Several mothers have posted viral images and claims similar to Jody’s online, but there’s currently no scientific consensus that a mother’s breastmilk will change in response to a baby’s saliva.

Breastfeeding expert Pinky McKay has explained to Mamamia that breast milk can change colour for a number of reasons, including in response to certain foods.

“One of the factors influencing the colour of your milk could be the foods you are eating. For instance, your milk may look pinkish if you have been eating beetroot; orange if you have had pumpkin soup or green if you have been guzzling green smoothies loaded with spinach,” she explained. “Some medications, herbs and vitamins can also alter the colour of your breastmilk.”

McKay also shared that “some mothers worry that the ‘bluish’ and ‘watery’ milk is not ‘good quality’,” however she said “this myth is often perpetuated by older women who used to be told this by health professionals.”

“Your breast milk is perfectly suited to your baby’s stages of development and it changes composition – and colour – over your breastfeeding journey and even throughout an individual feed.”

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“As long as your baby is happily feeding, it’s unlikely there is a problem or that your baby is at any risk, regardless of the colour of your milk.”

LISTEN: We discuss how to get your baby to sleep for nine hours, on our Baby Bubble podcast.

Speaking to Mamamia, Jody said the reaction to her post has been mainly positive, with the exception of a handful of anti-vaxxers whom she addressed in an update: “Don’t come on my post preaching about not having vaccinations and them been poisonous,” she wrote. “I hope your child(ren) never becomes ill with anything serious or doesn’t pass it on to a poor baby waiting to have their immunisations because you don’t believe in vaccinations!”

Overall, she said, a number of mums have related to the situation.

“I’ve had a lot of women say they too have had blue-tinged milk when their little ones have being sick or if they (the mum) are sick,” she said. “I’ve had ladies message me telling me it has encouraged them to breastfeed when their baby is born, and I’ve had ladies message me saying it’s encouraged them to continue to breastfeeding as they were just about to give up.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting my post to become this viral,” she continued, “I was just expecting it to be shared between a handful of friends.”

This information should not be substituted for medical advice. If you are concerned about your breastmilk, consult your doctor.