Blood tends to appear in mother’s milk during various medical conditions affecting mothers. The most common among these is having a cut or abrasion on the nipple or the surrounding region. Wounds on the nipple are primarily caused due to teeth biting. Blood tends to ooze out from these wounds once the baby applies pressure through sucking. Bleeding would stop once the injury is completely healed. If mothers notice any such wounds, they should always take care to clean the area properly before feeding the baby. Infections tend to spread easily through wounds.

       Another important cause for appearance of blood in breast milk is vascular engorgement or rusty pipe syndrome. Patients with rusty pipe syndrome have an increased blood supply in the breasts few days before the expectancy date. Mammary glands tend to develop rapidly during this period resulting in an increased pressure in the blood vessels. Any slight pressure or stress would cause oozing out of slight amount of blood from the nipple. This syndrome usually disappears within a week after giving birth to the child.  

       However, blood tends to appear from nipples in certain types of malignant conditions such as fibrocystic breast disease, intraductal papillomas and internal trauma caused in the breast. However, there are other associated symptoms for these diseases and they would need proper medical consultation and treatment.

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