Does Breastmilk Change When Your Baby Is Sick?

Breastmilk is one of the best ways to boost your child's immune system and prevent them from getting sick. Well, it does not mean that your baby will never catch a virus, but breast milk could actually help your baby fight it off.

Breastmilk changes as per your baby's needs. Even when your baby is not fighting a virus, milk has a number of elements that help protect your baby from illness and infections. Breastmilk, to start with is full of antibodies, especially highest in colostrum. While the highest levels stay when your baby receives the milk right after birth and a few days afterwards, the antibodies remain present the whole time you nurse your baby.

Breastmilk also contains a blend of proteins, fats, sugars, and white blood cells. Furthermore it includes lactoferrin, lactadherin, antiproteases, and osteopontin, these are antivirals and anti-inflammatories that help you baby build a strong immune system.

As per the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM), the breast milk changes when the mother is sick too.

As per a 2012 study published in Pediatric Research, titled Changes in immunomodulatory constituents of human milk in response to active infection in the nursing infant, when a baby has an active infection, the white blood cell content (macrophages) of mother's breast milk increases, as do other protective factors.

While another 2013 study titled Maternal and infant infections stimulate a rapid leukocyte response in breastmilk, looked at the baseline amounts of leukocytes, which is a type of white blood cells in breast milk during times of illness for the nursing mother or their nursed baby. The study found that leukocytes increased significantly, whenever the mother or the child was sick.

Researchers believe that this happens due to a process called "baby spit backwash". During breastfeeding, the suckling motion creates a vaccum-like pressure which makes the mixture of breast milk and baby saliva go back up in mother's body. This signals the mother's body to produce more immune cells as per the baby's need. This process allows mother's body to sense baby's health through baby's saliva and changes the composition of her breast milk to best suit child's health.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO) and a 2021 study published in the International Breastfeeding Journal, it is safe to breastfeed, if you have COVID-19. In fact, WHO recommends that lactating parents with COVID-19 can continue to nurse their infants.

The 2021 study also suggests that babies who were nursed were less likely to test positive for COVID-19 than babies who did not receive any breast milk. Furthermore, antibodies for COVID-19 was found in breast milk of parents who have COVID-19 and parents who have received vaccination against COVID-19.

This indicates that breastfed baby can build immunity against COVID-19 even without getting sick or vaccinated themselves. It is important to note that there is no evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be passed to a baby via breastmilk.