A mother in Australia was shocked when her breastmilk turned pink.
She was quickly able to identify that her diet, in particular the amount of beetroot she has eaten, was the cause.
She took to a popular breastfeeding forum, Breastfeeders in Australia, to tell other mothers about her experience. She explained that on that day, she had drank fresh beetroot juice, eaten a sandwich that contained fresh beetroot and then finished the end of a tin of beetroot.
Not realising that this would have any impact on her breastmilk, she was then shocked to notice that her milk had turned pink.
At first, she was worried it was an indication of something more serious, but after tasting some of the milk she determined that it was just beetroot that caused the colour change.
Not only that, the beetroot had also turned her and her daughter’s urine pink.
Australian Breastfeeding Association gives this advice on the colour of breastmilk:
“The colour of breastmilk varies. Colostrum is typically yellowish and mature breastmilk is typically bluish-white. However, there is a wide range of normal when it comes to the colour of breastmilk. Most mothers are unaware of the colour of their breastmilk, unless they express.”
It also says that certain foods, such as beetroot, carrots, squash, pumpkin and leafy greens can alter the colour of breastmilk.
