Witch’s Milk: When Your Baby Starts Making Milk Themselves

When you bring a newborn home, you expect the tiny cries, the soft snuffles, and maybe the occasional projectile poo. But what if your baby starts… producing milk?

No, you didn’t misread that. Some newborns, both boys and girls, can lactate. It’s just as weird, wonderful, and unsettling as it sounds. This phenomenon is called witch’s milk, and while the name sounds like it belongs in a cauldron, it’s actually perfectly natural.

What Is Witch’s Milk, Exactly?

Witch’s milk is the old-fashioned nickname for neonatal galactorrhea—the production of small amounts of breast milk by newborns. It’s surprisingly common, affecting up to 5% of infants.

And it manifests just like mom’s milk production, with enlarged breast tissue, and a periodic leaking of white-to-yellow milk from their tiny baby nipples.

The “witchy” part of the name comes from the fact that medieval Europeans once thought milk leaking from babies meant witches had bewitched them to make milk for their familiars (cats, toads, imps, you name it!). Centuries later, it’s still giving parents a bit of a shock, though thankfully, nobody’s lighting torches anymore.

*Witch’s Milk was once thought to be caused by witches spells to help feed their familiars*

Why Do Babies Make Milk?

Blame it on the hormones. During pregnancy, a mom’s body floods with estrogen and prolactin, both of which help her to make milk once the baby is born. But those hormones can also cross the placenta into your baby’s bloodstream too. And just like in mom, that hormonal cocktail can kickstart the baby’s tiny breast tissue into action.

After birth, the baby isn’t making the hormones themselves, but your newborn’s body is still affected by all those leftover maternal hormones. And that can sometimes result in swollen breast buds, or even a few drops of milk.

Because the hormones are coming from mom rather than anything in the baby’s physiology, witch’s milk doesn’t discriminate. Both male and female babies can experience milk leakage. Equality starts early!

Should I Be Worried?

Nope. Witch’s milk is a sign of a normal newborn body adjusting to life outside the womb. It’s:

Harmless – The hormones in abby’s body or the milk they produce won’t affect your baby or their development. You don’t need to “squeeze it out” (seriously, don’t. It can cause infection).
Self-limiting – It usually clears up within the first few weeks or months as the levels of maternal hormones in their bodies drop.

In very rare cases, if the discharge is bloody, continues beyond a few months, or comes with redness and swelling, it’s worth checking in with your pediatrician. But for most babies, it’s just a quirky hormonal hangover.

*This hormonal hangover can affect both boys and girls*

The Important Questions

“Does this mean my baby will grow up to be an overachiever?”
Maybe. If they can lactate at a week old, university applications should be a breeze.

“Can I put this on their baby record book?”
Yes. Right next to “first smile” and “first explosive nappy.”

“Should I tell the grandparents?”
Depends on how squeamish they are. But you’ll definitely win Weirdest Baby Fact at Christmas Dinner.

Bottom Line

Witch’s milk might sound spooky, but it’s just one of the many bizarre and fascinating things newborns do. It’s harmless, temporary, and a great reminder that babies are basically little science experiments with nappies.

So next time you notice a damp patch on your baby’s vest, relax. It’s not sorcery. It’s just biology, with a side of medieval folklore.

The Science Baby