4 ms·

Breast milk is inherently sterile (unless the mother has a severe bacterial infection). It usually gets contaminated with the skin microbiota during feeding. S

• joe-collins 4y ago
  Breast milk is not sterile. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643565/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643565/
  • folli 4y ago
    That's hotly debated. Even the study you cite cannot rule out skin contamination. But unequivocally showing the existence of entero-mammary pathway (translocation of maternal gut bacteria from the gut to the mammary glands) would be very exciting news indeed.
    • TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      The article says that L. reuteri is present in other places in the body besides the gut.
    • bawolff 4y ago
      In the context of this conversation, does it matter whether the cause is skin contamination or not?
      • TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
        Yes, because if you are buying breast milk from a woman who used a breast pump, then the skin contamination is very very little compared to actual breast suckling. A seller: https://cosprings.craigslist.org/hab/d/colorado-springs-breast-milk/7500027953.html https://cosprings.craigslist.org/hab/d/colorado-springs-brea...
        • __alexs 4y ago
          So you're telling me I should actually be drinking all of this e-girl bath water I bought?
    • candiddevmike 4y ago
      You can get HIV from breast milk, it's not sterile.
      • folli 4y ago
        HIV is an infectious virus. Also, bacteria in milk is usually a sign of mastitis. I'm explicitly talking about healthy mothers.
• stefantalpalaru 4y ago
  > Breast milk is inherently sterile There is nothing sterile in the human body. Not even the brain.
  • folli 4y ago
    You've put more confidence in your statement than the scientific consensus allows. A brain microbiome is hotly debated, no concrete proof (yet?). I personally also have a hard time believing in a healthy bacterial blood microbiota, but it's also proposed.
    • stefantalpalaru 4y ago