Dear Susan,
       I have several times dealt with mothers with significant blood in
their milk.  One lady froze one of her pumped bottles, just to show people who
would not believe her.  There was a thick layer of blood that had settled to the
bottom of the bottle and the rest of the milk was pink.  In all cases I have
dealt with, the cause is a papilloma.  This is a benign tumor in the breast.
The milk rushing past it causes it to bleed.
       A mother's milk is not harmful to her baby, although it can be
unsettling to the mother.  Because the papilloma is benign, it does not necessarily
need to be removed immediately.  But this is an option if the mother is losing
enough blood to cause her to become anemic, or if there is so much blood in
the milk that she can't bring herself to feed the milk to the baby.
       A surgeon usually diagnoses this condition.
       Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
       Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA

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