I've seen two cases of "blood" blisters on a mom's nipple in the last  three weeks. These are dark colored (brown or red) and on the front facing tip of the nipple.  The babies have been approximately one to two days old. As we have learned about negative pressure, I now think that unrelieved negative pressure could have caused them. 

In both cases, I found the baby would suck for a few minutes with eyes closed and then go to sleep. Very little swallowing, and therefore little milk transfer. We successfully worked on getting a better suck, swallow response going. Neither mom was pumping.

Some questions that came up from other staff members -- is  is safe to nurse with a "blood" blister on the nipple like that? (I said yes but this freaked out some people.) Is there treatment for a "blood" blister on the nipple, beyond  correcting the suck problem?

Thank you! Kathy Eng, far  SE Houston,  TX, USA

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