Liquid gold: “Breastmilk healed my stretch marks”

Posted in Breastfeeding.
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They don’t call it liquid gold for nothing!

Struggling with some stretch marks after the birth of her baby, new mum Chantelle Clarke decided to try something a bit different.

Been trying a little experiment for the last 2 weeks. Been putting breastmilk on one side of my stomach. I can't believe…

Posted by Chantelle Clarke on Saturday, 2 February 2019

With a two-month-old baby Chantelle was eagerly breastfeeding, this clever new mum put two and two together – and decided to try rubbing breast milk into her stretch marks, with great results.


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‘Put a little on your tiger stripes’

This is how she described her method via her Facebook post.

“For any moms out there breastfeeding put a little on those tiger stripes lol (For moms asking) I rub it into my tummy while nursing and lather it on so it’s almost dripping off. I let it air dry and just pull my shirt over after. I put it on every time I nurse. Been doing it for about 3 weeks now.

Chantelle went onto say that not only did the practice reduce the size of the stretch marks, it also helped the colour to fade.

She was so impressed with the results, and said her mum convinced her to post it and share with other breastfeeding mums.

Although her message did come with a disclaimer: “I cannot promise it will work 100% for everyone but it definitely helps.”

Anecdotally, breast milk has always been considered a bit of a wonder liquid.

baby breastfeeding

Other uses for liquid gold

I know that I was told by lots of people to use it to treat my baby’s cradle cap and his baby acne. Others have been told to use it on nappy rash, your own worn and weary nipples and even c-section scars. 

So, is there any science behind its magical healing powers? 

Not really, according to lactation consultant and midwife, Georgina Dowden. While it doesn’t hurt to apply breastmilk, most of these skin irritations are likely to clear up on their own.  

“There haven’t been any good quality studies done on the effectiveness of using breastmilk to treat these conditions. But the thing is, those conditions typically clear up on their own anyway, and rather quickly too, “says Georgina.
 
“So it’s difficult to know if in these situations, their improvement was due to the antibodies in the milk (of which there are many, and these are very important to protecting the infant against many viral and bacteria infections) or just the passage of time. Certainly using breastmilk for any of these conditions wouldn’t cause harm, though newborn babies with bacterial conjunctivitis should be reviewed by a paediatrician or GP.”

Which doesn’t mean you can’t try it, of course. 

And as one reader on Chantelle’s post put it, if nothing else: 

“It’s a great use for your oversupply”.

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