Yes, this happens sometimes. My "conventional wisdom" on this is that if the
baby will accept the colostrum or milk with blood in it, there's no harm
from it. You're absolutely right, if the baby were just nursing directly you
wouldn't see the color and no one would give a hoot. But some babies refuse
to take colostrum/milk with blood in it - which could have been the case
with baby #1, and could have led to dehydration, etc. if no one picked up on
it.

Bottom line - if the kid will eat it, then ignore the color. Esp. since it
sounds like it's resolving rather than worsening (tea to pink to creamy).
It's pointless to hemocult the milk - you know there's blood in it, you can
see it! - and what earthly difference does it make, as long as the kid will
eat?!

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY

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