Thick (mucous like) breast milk

[Renee_AW]

I have just had Mastitis & the milk coming from the ducts where the Mastitis was is very thick and yellow. The consistency is like mucous, not regular hindmilk.

I had a visit with my local baby health nurse to discuss breastfeeding to try and ensure that I don't get Mastitis again & expressed some of this very thick milk to show her but she had never seen it before & couldn't give me any information...told to 'google it'.

Does anyone know what this means & if there is anything I can do about it?

[STARRYSKY]

HI RENEE, i dont know from personal experience but have heard my mum tell about the time she got mastitis, she described the same kind of thing but said it was more like puss, she said she sat in the bath crying and in pain, hand expressing it all out. This was 20 odd years ago though....
Did you have antibiotics for the mastitis? are you still feeding from both breasts or just the one unaffected?

[Renee_AW]

HI RENEE, i dont know from personal experience but have heard my mum tell about the time she got mastitis, she described the same kind of thing but said it was more like puss, she said she sat in the bath crying and in pain, hand expressing it all out. This was 20 odd years ago though....
Did you have antibiotics for the mastitis? are you still feeding from both breasts or just the one unaffected?

Hello Starrysky, you could describe it like puss...sounds like the same thing. I did get antibiotics & the mastitis seems to have cleared. I continued to feed on both breasts even though it was painful it felt like the best thing to do & reading all of the advise it is what is recommended.

[Kmn]

That sounds like it might still be partly blocked and/or infected. Can you get to a physio and have some ultrasound treatment on it and see if you can get it cleared that way? You may need a repeat of the antibiotics too.

[STARRYSKY]

yep, Ive just been doing some of my own googling LOL, good job, thats definitely the way to go, from what Ive been reading it sounds like its just the ducts clearing out all the "bits" one site described it as "like breastmilk cream for baby" LOL.
anyway, It sounds like what youve been doing is all good, do you have any lumps in your breast at all? any pain still?

[onthefly]

Give the ABA a call - they may well know.
Glad to hear it has cleared up for you

[Twin Sister]

I had that before but under different circumstances. A few weeks after I weaned DS he wanted to nurse. I didn't want to restart but tried a bit of hand expressing out of curiosity just to see if I even had any left and it was just as you described. Thick, mucousy and sticky.

[AnyDream]

If it persists you need to get it checked out by a doctor, any unusual breast discharge needs to be investigated to rule out more serious causes.

[*Infinity*]

Renee I had a similar experience when I had mastitis over 12 months ago now. I had been unwell but the thick, greeny milk was a dead giveaway that something was wrong. GP diagnosed mastitis & I also had a bacterial infection in a wound on my nipple from cracks that wouldn't heal. I hope everything clears up for you but as MD suggests, keep an eye on things and go back to get checked.