Breast milk is pretty much a miracle of the woman body, with science proving it can help babies ward off illness, help moms prevent breast cancer, and even change in its makeup as babies get older to adapt to their ever-shifting nutritional needs.
Now, a nursing momâs post comparing the color of her breast milk before and after her baby received a round of vaccines has people in awe once again. She took to Facebook with a photo that will make it hard to deny that breast milk is kind of magical.
UK mom, Jody Danielle Fisher revealed she noticed, while breast feeding, that her breast milk turned blue after her baby girl, Nancy was vaccinated with her immunisation at one-year-old. Fisher, who lives in Birmingham, doesnât think the difference in her milkâs appearance is an accident.
According to Fisher, she believes her body ârecognisedâ her daughter was sick due to antibodies present in her body from the injection. She added the phenomenon is one of the reasons sheâs still breastfeeding her 13-month-old daughter.
In the end, Fisher simply has faith that both vaccines and breastfeeding are the right thing to do for her child.
”Nancy had her 1 year injections on Tuesday afternoon, the ânormalâ colour milk is from the day before she had them, the âblueâ colour milk is from today – 2 days after she had them.
Itâs blue from all the antibodies my body is producing as it thinks sheâs sick with what she was vaccinated against! When she feeds her saliva sends signals to my body to produce more milk with illness specific antibodies!
This is one of the reasons Iâm still breastfeeding 13 months on….you donât get all this goodness and nutrients from formula or cows milk! Way to go boobies ????????????????â„ïž
**Edit to add** holy shit I wasnât expecting this to go viral ????????
*Iâm by no way shaming formula, I formula fed my 1st, and combi fed my 2nd & 3rd. I Was merely showing what womenâs bodies can do when their children are poorly and this is one of the reasons Iâm still breastfeeding at 13 months as Iâm often questioned as to why Iâm still doing so.
**My milk isnât this colour from what Iâve eaten (not had anything artificially coloured/no supplements/no green vegetables), my milk is only ever this colour when my daughter has been sick…itâs never been like it when sheâs be well.
***This was expressed STRAIGHT after a feed so certainly not foremilk either.
This goes to show the vaccines are doing exactly what they are meant to do, and so is my daughters body and mine. Whole point of vaccinations is to introduce a very very weakened version of what virus/disease you want immunity over.
Which causes your body to make antibodies and âhealâ itself, which then in turn makes your body think you have already had said virus/disease so your wonât get a more deadly real version in the future when/if your exposed to it.
Donât come on my post preaching about not having vaccinations and them been poisonous ???? I hope your child(ren) never becomes ill with anything serious or doesnât pass it on to a poor baby waiting to have their immunisations because you donât believe in vaccinations!”
However, an obstetrician, Dr. Andrew Pesca believes the colour change is as a result of food dye the mother has ingested, or from colouring in vegetables â rather than the âimmune responseâ that Fisher claims.
He told FEMAIL:
”There is no mechanism by which a womanâs body can detect an immune response. Breast milk is made to support babies, this is true, but the colour change is not helping in any way. Sometimes women will eat things and if the dye is particularly strong it will be excreted through the breast milk.”
In response, Fisher edited her Facebook post confirming she had not consumed any deep-coloured vegetables.
Last year, another mom, PaigePeterson shared a similar photo noting that her milk seemed to be responding to her daughterâs flu diagnosis:
”Raina tested positive for flu this past weekend. I didn’t believe the nurse when she told me because she hasn’t had any symptoms of flu that I have noticed.
The frozen milk on the left is from 2 weeks ago. The frozen milk on the right is from this past weekend when her swab came back positive. Notice the change in color?
My breast milk created antibodies to fight off any infections that Raina may have had. I never gave her Tamiflu.
THIS is why I breastfeed!
If you’re a new mom and can breastfeed, please be patient and seek help if you need it. Breastfeeding is SO important for our babies.”
Breastfeeding site KellyMom notes that breast milk can definitely be different colors but that those changes typically reflect a momâs change in diet.
However, it is correct that milk adapts and changes according to a babyâs needs.
âIt does not always look the same because breast milk changes itâs composition throughout the feedings, as well as throughout the day.
As baby grows, breast milk continues to change to meet the needs for optimal growth, at each stage of babyâs development.
This means that momâs breast milk at four months is perfectly suited to the needs of her four month old baby, and at six months, perfectly suited for her six month old,â they explain.
âSometimes when we are sick our body is burning extra calories as weâre fighting off that illness, so it could very well increase the calories of momâs milk to make sure the baby has the energy to be doing the work of fighting off the virus,â board certified lactation consultant Rachel Miller of Piedmont Medical Center says.
âThat definitely would change the appearance of the milk in a way where it would look more yellow.â
