Breastfeeding Celebration Week

This week is Breastfeeding Celebration Week here in the UK!

As the best way to celebrate breastfeeding is by normalising it, we are offering a massive 50% discount on our Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme to businesses and venues across the UK!

The scheme is a great way to show you support breastfeeding families on your business premises or at your events. Find out more here or to buy click here. Enter the code BFF2021 by 30/06/21 to get the reduced price of just £7.50 for a full year!

It’s Volunteer’s Week!

#weloveourvolunteers is actually one of our favourite hashtags here at BfT….because we really really do!

Our volunteers come from all walks of life… we have teachers, shop workers, bar staff, stay at home mums, paramedics, singers, dancers (those who think they can sing and dance but team night outs have proved otherwise 🤭) beauticians, drivers….and just about everything in-between. All very different, but what is the same is their passion, their commitment to families and how they strive to make a difference to each and every mother, parent, pregnant woman or person they come into contact with!

They are simply amazing. And never have they amazed us quite so much as they have over the past year. It was a massive change from moving from our lovely face to face groups and pregnancy sessions, to suddenly being only behind a screen or chatting online. They missed the families, were wary of change, and had their own pandemic related concerns to deal with! But…they did it. They built their confidence supporting online, kept their skills and knowledge up to date, continued to provide fantastic support, did additional training and supported each other and BfT through a really tough time.

So this volunteers’ week- more than ever before…thank you. We wouldn’t be where we are, or be able to do what we do without you.

Breast milk. It’s white, right?

Breast milk. It’s white right? Or perhaps a bit more creamy or yellowy in those early days, but we do generally think about milk being within that vanilla colour scheme. It can be quite a surprise then, on expressing that that’s not always the case, and if it isn’t does that mean something’s wrong?

Nope!

Let’s file that beautiful colour variation under perfectly natural and pretty amazing. Human milk comes in a variety of colours, with a variety of causes which can even change from one feed to the next! –

Colostrum-

That early colostrum is often very yellow in colour (almost like custard!) due to it being so concentrated and rich in fats and antibodies.

Later on you might notice this if you pump at the end of a feed or when the breast is relatively ‘empty’ as what tends to come out then is richer in those lovely fats. If your older baby is unwell you might see it return to this more yellowy colour as your body responds to your baby providing them with a concentrated hit of antibodies.

Foods-

Your milk is very cleverly flavoured by the foods and drinks in your diet. Research shows this makes babies much more likely to be more responsive to solid foods when they are ready to be introduced, as they’ve already had a ‘taste’! This favouring can also come with a bit of colouring too!

Greenish milk has been linked to consuming green veg, so if you’ve had a heavy night on the spinach you may have what we affectionately refer to as ‘Kermit milk’!! 

Some food dyes, fruit drinks, and gelatine desserts have been associated with milk that is pink or pinkish orange.

And while the jury is out on whether carrots can make you see in the dark, if your diet has a lot of them or other yellow-orange vegetables, particularly if you eat them mashed, there can be high levels of carotene in your milk, which can turn it a bit yellow or orange! 

Blood-

Pink milk may indicate blood in your milk. Sounds pretty grim, but this often just comes from a bit of damage to the nipple or within the breast. Seeing blood in your milk is of course worrying, but it is not harmful to your baby as your blood and milk are made from the same stuff, so you can keep on feeding even when it looks quite alarming! We’d probably suggest a full feed observation to make sure things are working as well as possible for you and to help improve any damage.

Brown milk may be caused by (the delightfully named) Rusty Pipe Syndrome- As our breasts grow and stretch ready for and during those first few days of breastfeeding, extra blood flows into to our boobs and it sometimes leaks into our milk ducts which can make your milk look brown or rust-coloured (like water from a rusty pipe-hence the name!). It should clear after a few days as more milk flows through your breasts, and it’s again fine to keep on feeding.

*If you notice suspected blood in your babies spit up or vomit that you suspect may not be caused by any of the above, it’s worth having them checked over by your Midwife, GP or healthcare provider to rule out other causes.

Blue Milk-

Around 40% of the protein in your milk is made up of casein, which has a natural blueish hue so it’s not uncommon for milk to appear to look a little blue too! This is usually more obvious when milk volume is high, or more watery and the fat content lower. You might notice this when pumping from full breasts or when the weather is hot and your boobs naturally provide a more thirst-quenching drink!

So…..

Don’t be too worried if your milk has more colours than a paint chart- remember if we weren’t expressing we’d often never even know, so go ahead and let that rainbow milk flow!

What’s in a nappy: Part 2- Colour!

So we’ve already talked about what to expect in the early days and how newborn stools change in the first week or so of life, but beyond that we still get loads of questions asking about poo and what’s ‘normal’ particularly regarding colour! Like most things, what’s normal for one baby might be quite different for another, things can even change from day to day (even hour to hour!) and there is a veritable rainbow of colours which can all fall within the realms of what we would expect to see!

Yellow: 

Or mustard, tan or orange are all typical for a breastfed baby who is feeding and pooing well! Often watery, perhaps with seedy bits- if it looks something like english mustard or a good old korma sauce you’re usually on the right track! In the first 4-6 weeks we’d be looking for at least a couple of £2 coin sized splats per day, but beyond this it can be a good few days in between as the gut slows down and becomes more efficient.  As long as this runs alongside expected weight gain and effective feeding then it’s generally not a problem! 

Green: 

Green poos are one of the most common things we are asked about! A quick google can lead to all kinds of conclusions and can be enough to throw in a whole lot of confusion and maybe even a little panic, as there are so many varying suggestions!

Firstly it’s worth noting that if all else is well, baby feeds effectively and is gaining weight then an odd green stool isn’t usually anything to be concerned about, and for some babies it can even be normal to produce poos which are a little green in colour! There are also various other causes of green stools though, some more serious than others and if you have any doubts at all it’s worth looking into!

Teething, Illness or new medications for mum or baby are all things that can temporarily turn stools green. These all usually return to normal given a little time, but if you have any concerns speak to your GP or health visitor. 

Mums diet- Another temporary one, but some foods can pass into breast milk colouring it and babys poo for a short while. As long as baby does not suffer any discomfort it’s not usually an issue and will right itself once that food stuff passes through. 

Insufficient milk- If poo’s are also small, infrequent and baby seems unsettled and wanting to feed often it could be a sign that they are finding it difficult to feed effectively and fully drain the breast. As there can be various reasons for this, we’d suggest a full feeding assessment here by a breastfeeding specialist and additional support from your midwife, health visitor or a lactation consultant. 

Oversupply- At the opposite end of the scale, too much milk can also be a problem! This can lead to plenty of foamy green stools and a windy unsettled baby as this is the result of taking in a greater amount of the lactose rich watery milk which we usually see at the start of a feed. This is often know as Lactose overload. With an oversupply, baby’s tummy can be filled with this before they reach the richer, fattier milk which tends to come a little later on. Again it’s best to seek help with this from breastfeeding support starting with a feeding assessment and tweaks to feeding to  allow baby better access to the full range of milk and look at ways to reduce supply with care if required. 

Hot Weather!- Similar to the case of over supply, when the weather is hot we often see babies taking shorter, more frequent feeds to stay hydrated which in turn means they again drink a higher proportion of that lactose rich watery milk. Result again is those foamy green poos. As the weather returns to normal, feeding patterns and poos tend to follow!

Allergy or Intolerance- Green poos can also be a sign of an allergy or intolerance to something in mums diet, but this will usually be accompanied by other symptoms such as an unsettled fussy baby, reflux, rashes or skin problems, colic, stuffy nose. As well as looking green, stools may also contain streaks of mucus and/or blood and may smell bad too! If you suspect an allergy or intolerance, it’s worth getting some extra support and starting with a full feeding assessment to rule out other causes. If an allergen is suspected then an elimination diet should help, but this should be done with additional support so discuss with your health visitor or a feeding specialist firstly. 

Iron- Supplements for mum or baby can result in dark green stools whilst taking the medication. 

Phototherapy- Can also result in temporary green poos during treatment for jaundice.

Oxidisation- A poo that’s been hiding in the nappy for a while can appear greenish due to oxidisation so this does not tend to be a reliable gauge of colour!

Black:

Black poos are expected on the first day or 2 of life, beyond this there could be various causes, we’d recommend a feeding assessment to check for signs of effective feeding and contact with your doctor or health visitor to rule out any issues. 

Red: 

Again, there can be a variety of causes here, and a few streaks of red are not always too much of an issue but again it’s well worth getting things checked with a medical professional to try and pinpoint a cause!

White or Grey: 

It’s unusual to see pale stools like this, but they can be associated with liver conditions, so if you do find them speak to your doctor or healthcare provider for further investigation. 

Like most things, the colour of a baby’s poo is just one part of a bigger picture! If you have any doubts or concerns, get in touch! We will help you work things out and point you in the right direction for additional support if you feel you need it….

What’s in a Nappy?

This is one of those things that no one really warns you about (unless you attend one of our Pregnancy Sessions of course) As a new parent, you are never going to talk about poo so much!

You’ll probably take photo’s of it to show us, and may even hold onto old nappies ready for when the midwife pops round! After all the contents of your new baby’s nappy are really not much like the poo you know, and really not like much else on earth!

And we’ll let you into a little secret- we’re all a little bit obsessed with poo too! In those early days of breastfeeding, it’s one of the best ways for us to see what’s going in- by looking at what comes OUT, in the form of wee and poo!

The first poo your baby will pass isn’t actually poo. It’s meconium. This black, sticky, tar like substance is in your baby’s bowel whilst you are pregnant, it helps to keep their bowel sterile, but after it’s just not needed so out it comes- in fact that first feed helps to get it moving.
Imagine if someone put marmite in a tube of toothpaste and just kept squeezing- that’s meconium! It keeps on coming and takes copious wet cotton balls to actually remove. Expect at least 1-2 in the first 24- 48 hours- although prepare for many more!!! 1-2 wet nappies at this stage is also all we would be looking for. Their tummies are tiny and don’t hold much- around 5-7mls, so they won’t create much wee yet.

Eventually that meconium is almost all gone, and babies’ poo changes- we even call this a changing stool. It’s the end of that meconium and the beginnings of the digestion of breast milk. Its green and quite ‘bitty’- think mint sauce or pesto!! Again, from around day 3 we’re expecting a couple in 24 hours. Wet nappies continue to show us baby is taking enough too, by this stage we’d want 3 or more heavier nappies alongside that changing stool.

Often, we then have a little journey through a few shades of brown, finished with the grand finale of poo on around day 5….
chicken korma or English mustard!! This soft yellow poo is a great sign baby is feeding on your mature breast milk, and another bonus is it smells kinda nice- Quite sweet smelling really! We’re still wanting 2 poos a day, whether it’s a £2 coin sized splat, or a full chin to back of neck ‘poonami’ (more on those later!). Although there’s no upper limit, and many breastfed babies will poo after every feed. Wet nappies should also have increased to around 5+per day by now and around a wee per feed as they get bigger.

Breastfed babies’ poo is often very loose. They’ve not got the runs, it’s just what their poo is like! It doesn’t ever really form into a stool until you introduce solid foods though adding formula can make the stools a little darker and thicker or more ‘paste’ like (we’re talking peanut butter here!)

Wet nappies continue to always be a really good indicator of effective feeding as does poo, but only up until around 4-6weeks.
Beyond that, some exclusively breastfed babies can go up to 10 days without a poo! They aren’t constipated, they’ve just become more efficient at feeding and there’s not as much wastage in breastmilk.

So, if you are ever worried about what’s going in, focus instead on what’s coming out!!!

Science Sunday!

There’s a whole lot of ongoing research going on surrounding Covid19, the associated vaccines and how they interact with breastfeeding. We’ve spotted a couple of really interesting reports this week…..

First is a very small study, yet to be peer reviewed but yield’s very promising results. Knowing what we already do about how breastmilk works, we’ve long suspected that any vaccine would create antibodies which could then be found in mothers milk. This study forms the start of proof for this! Read more from the original document here

Next is a much larger UK based study, looking at the relationship between early life factors and Covid19 infection. This one is really fascinating, as it shows a reduction in risk of contraction and suffering Covid complications for those adults who were breastfed in infancy. Of course we can’t change the past, but it goes to prove that the benefits of breastmilk really do last a lifetime and breastfeeding now will help to protect future generations. Find the full report here

Breastfeeding Friendly is back!

We are excited to announce that our Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme is back!

This is perfectly timed following this weeks announcement from the UK government with their ‘roadmap’ out of current restrictions. Over the coming months more businesses will be reopening and new mums will be able to get out and about, many for the first time since giving birth! We know that the UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world and this can make breastfeeding in public, or in front of others a very daunting prospect for many new mums, and even mums of older babies too.

Breastfeeding Friendly allows all kinds of businesses and venues to show their support without the need to ask! Just knowing where to find a safe and supportive space to feed can make a huge difference. All the businesses/venues who are part of our scheme have demonstrated their commitment to protecting breastfeeding and creating a welcoming environment for breastfeeding families.

The scheme is open to all businesses and venues in the UK who have an interest in supporting new mothers for just a small fee which provides a welcome pack including promotional materials. Find more information here, or to purchase click here.

Find all currently listed businesses on our interactive map or look out for the Breastfeeding Friendly Logo!