BF - Blood coming out instead of milk

[K2012]

Hi I’m 4 days post-partum after an emergency c-section. I tried to express colostrum from day 1 got very little, but then I noticed from right breast there was blood with the colostrum. Staff at the hospital said it’s nothing to worry about and baby can still have the colostrum.
Yesterday my breasts started feeling rock hard, big and swollen I tried to express again from right breast and there still blood coming out.

What does this mean, is it normal?

Call your midwife to check

Are you sure it's coming from inside your body with the milk, rather than a crack in the outside of your nipple?

Completely normal - it's more likely to be coming from a tiny crack in your nipple somewhere. If you want to keep bf it should only take a day or so to calm down. Buy some lanisoh - costs a fortune but is sent by the gods.

It's quite common if you've got an injured nipple, the blood gets into the milk but it's perfectly fine to feed. When your baby feeds directly from the best you'd have no idea! It does look scary but it only needs a tiny bit of blood to make quite a vivid colour.

Get yourself some lansinoh and keep smothered in it

With the lansinoh just bear in mind that it's wool-derived so if you suffer with any skin irritation when you're wearing wool then rubbing lansinoh into a nipple crack will be sent directly from hell to test your spirit very painful. Expressed breastmilk (bloody or not) can also be rubbed into damaged nipples to soothe and heal them.

I had this, called "rusty pipes syndrome" and in my case wasn't due to nipple damage. It was blood red for a day or two then gradually started to look like strawberry milkshake, then mango lassi and finally just milk. It can be a totally normal thing but looks scary xx

We went to the hospital when my DS was a few days old because he threw up bloody milk and I couldn't see any cuts on me that it could have come from.

The doctor explained that in the earlier days, the stretching of your tissue when you fill up with milk between feeds can cause broken capillaries in your breasts that bleed into the milk. They confirmed it won't harm baby at all.

They did also say to get in touch if you have any concerns with you or baby, especially in the early days when everything is new and you're learning what's normal, so if you have any concerns, speak to your midwife/ GP/ 111/ A&E depending on what you feel is most appropriate.

Hi @K2012 , boobs can be a right pain when you start breastfeeding. I had mastitis early on with both my boys and I know how unpleasant it can be.

I also had a bit of a run in with an electric pump when expressing and had a good bit of blood from a damaged nipple, so my advice would be to be gentle with the breast and if you're expressing preferably use a hand pump rather than electric so that you can control the suction. That's particularly true if the nipple is sore or damaged.

It might be normal but it is not nice to have problems like this especially when you have a new baby to deal with too and your body is all out of whack.

The hard boobs does sound like it could be mastitis. I would suggest keeping an eye on your temp and if there's any redness outline it with pen so you can see if it's improving or worsening. If you feel sick or feverish with it I'd get onto your gp.

I second the lansinoh suggestion. Keep it in your pocket or on a warm window sill so that it's nice and soft and easy to spread.

I've been there and I can say in my experience that it got a lot better after a few weeks. Good luck.