Hello lactnet experts!

Any ideas on this case?
Professional woman who has been breastfeeding for 5 months....no
problems...last week she notices what she calls a sour milk scent to her
body.  She says that her husband noticed it one night too althought her
co-workers say they do not smell it.  This has been going on a week or so.
Two days ago her day care called and said that they could not use the milk
she brought in for that day because it looked bad.  The mother had just
pumped it the day before and it had been refrigerated the entire time.  (We
do not know if it had a sour smell, just that it looked clumpy and spoiled.)

The mother's diet is the same as always, she says, and it includes no
dietary supplements or medications.  She did say that she drinks vinegar
each day -- about a tablespoon or two.  I wonder if that small amount of
vinegar could cause her body to have a scent that she would interpret as
sour milk?  And I wonder if the spoiled, clumpy milk was extra creamy milk.

Any ideas on this?  I will call the mother back tomorrow as I told her that
I had not had a case like this before and would have to ask some other
consultants what they thought.  The pediatrician's office told her not to
breastfeed if her milk was sour.  The OB's office told her they couldn't
help her and finally gave her the lactation center phone number.

Thanks for ideas!

Pardee Hinson, MPH, IBCLC
Carolinas Lactation Center
Charlotte, NC
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