There is NEVER a point where mother's milk is all foremilk or all hindmilk. By definition hindmilk is produced with every letdown

Currently, there is a tendency for women to think of foremilk as "bad milk," and hindmilk as "good milk." Perhaps this thinking has come about because of a general misunderstanding of what occurs in the breast during a feeding.

A woman's breast really only makes one type of milk and what is normally called "hindmilk," is just fat rich milk.

There is no sharp distinction between foremilk and hindmilk - it is a gradual change from the moment of the let-down (and there are several per feed, although most mothers only notice the first one).

Because the composition of the milk changes as the feeding progresses and because every baby varies in the amount of time it takes him to receive his fill of milk, allowing the baby to feed for an unlimited amount of time on the first side is important.

In between feedings, milk collects in mom's breasts. The fat globules stick to the walls of the alveoli, high up in the breast, near where the milk is made. Between feeds (since the fat is stuck higher up), lower-fat milk (foremilk) gradually fills the milk ducts. this is the milk that is available before letdown,when baby first latches on

When the letdown reflex is triggered, the milk is 'squeezed' down the ducts so it becomes available to the baby to milk out. As the breast starts to empty, the fat globules start becoming dislodged and move down the ducts. So the further into the feed, the higher the fat content of the milk coming out the nipple, as more and more fat globules are forced out.

The only time most moms notice  separate "parts" of breastmilk is if they have pumped and refrigerated their milk.   Fat floats, so when milk is placed in a static, artificial container, the milk has time to separate into layers. The reason we think that milk should look the same in a container is because cows milk is homogenized -- a process where the fat (cream)  droplets are spun into the milk so they are emulsified and the milk no longer separates. A dairy can control the amount of cream in the milk which is how we get low fat and non-fat milk. How dairy terms and dairy ideals became a part of human milk and breastfeeding is a long story. Suffice it to say we know far more about dairy cows than we do human beings.

See How the breast makes milk

Take a look at my commentary:

Oversupply Syndrome
AKA
Foremilk - Hindmilk Imbalance

© Marie Davis, RN, IBCLC     

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Last Reviewed: Saturday, February 11, 2012 11:14 AM