Can you even believe all the different colours breast milk can be?

Red, yellow, pink, green. These are just a few of the colours that breast milk can be and who even knew that boobs had these kinds of rainbow powers?!

A rainbow of colours

Labour nurse Liesel Teen of Mommy Labor Nurse shared a pretty startling update on Instagram recently, illustrating the amazing hues that breast milk can take on.

While she’d dyed the milk samples herself for demonstration photo purposes, it turns out that the phenomenon she’s mimicking actually is a thing!
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“Obviously the milk shown above is artificially dyed-I couldn’t find all the shades of REAL breast milk lol!⁣” Liesel wrote on Instagram. “But did you know, there are actually a variety of colors your milk can turn!?”

“There is a wide range of normal when it comes to the colour of breast milk. Most mothers are unaware of the colour of their breast milk, unless they express,” the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) confirms.

“In most cases, the colour of a mother’s breast milk is nothing to be worried about. However, it is always a good idea to seek medical advice if you are concerned. An unusual colour of a mother’s breast milk could be due to her diet. For example, food dyes in foods or drinks can alter the colour of breast milk.”

The ABA confirm that green, orange, blue, pink and black are among colours in the “normal” range. Here’s why milk can take on these surprising tints.

Blue or clear milk

This can be the colour of foremilk, the first milk that flowers before the creamier, whiter milk comes down.

Yellow milk

We know that just after giving birth, breast milk called colostrum is thick and yellow. If milk is slightly orange or yellow at other times, it can be taking on this tint from foods like carrots and sweet potatoes. Frozen breast milk can look a bit yellow, too.

Green milk

Food dyes in green drinks or similar can tint milk greenish, as can green vegetables like kale and spinach.

Pink or red milk

Again, food dyes from red processed foods can tint milk these colours. Beetroot can also add this sort of tinge to breastmilk as can small amounts of blood from cracked nipples.

Black or brown

Some medications can apparently turn milk these colours, as can small amounts of blood. If you have blood in your breast milk, be sure to chat to your GP or maternal child health nurse about the causes and treatment.

Blue! Lime! Orange!

Commenters on this post were relieved to discuss their own multi-coloured breast milk.

“I’ve had blue!” one mum confirmed.

“I’ve had blue, yellow, and red. The red freaked my hubby out, but the baby didn’t mind it,” another mother posted.

“Mine used to be blue and sometimes a really light lime green,” a follower wrote

“I’ve had both blue and green but it was very pale in both cases. So cool!” someone else said proudly.

“I had a really bad plugged duct once and I was pumping out orange. Like, really orange!” one mum shared.

“Didn’t have green or brown but did have the other 3. The pink was alarming!” someone else admitted.

I bet! #AmazingBoobs!