>Perhaps there is some pus draining into the milk which clots up.

Interesting Barbara.  Does pus clot the milk?  I saw a mom this morning with
an eight day old baby who was waiting until her nipples "toughened up" and
could not wait any longer.  I have seen worse looking nipples but, rarely.
Baby had worn away the tip of the nipple so she purchased one of the grocery
store type battery operated pumps to pump and bottle feed.  The pump damaged
her nipples to the point that it looked as if someone took a razor and tried
to slice off her nipples at the base.  Anyway, when I saw her she was
extremely engorged and it hurt for her to wear clothes.  I put her on an
intermittant suction pump on low suction and had her pump for about an hour
until she was soft.  When I poured the milk out there were clumps in the
milk that would not pass through the valve/membrane assembly.  The scabs on
her nipples were white but it was not bits of scab in the milk.  Do you
think it might have been the pus from the wounds that clotted the milk?  I
did not keep the milk around here long enough to see if they would go away
with time.

Linda Pohl, IBCLC
Phoenix, Arizona USA
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