Viral Video Shows Mom's Breast Milk Turned Pink: 'It's Blood'

A 28-year-old first-time mom's video showing her holding up a bag of pink breast milk has gone viral.

"Nobody told me that [if] I had a baby [and] chose to breastfeed my milk would come in an array of colors," Jo Johnson Overby said in a video she uploaded to video-sharing app TikTok on Oct. 26.

She proceeded to show viewers two bags of breast milk — one containing white milk, while the other had pink liquid that she dubbed "blood milk."

Overby initially panicked upon seeing the colored liquid that she had freshly pumped from her breast, Today reported.

"I was shocked the first time! I called for my husband to come look and then immediately called my older sister to confirm that I wasn't dying," Overby was quoted as saying by 7News.com.au.

The mother later realized that the pink tint was blood from her cracked nipples and that the so-called "blood milk" was safe for her 5-month-old daughter, Gardner, to drink

"It's blood… baby can drink it though so [it's] up to you whether you do it or not," Overby later said in her video, which has since been viewed over 13 million times.

Rachel Leibson, a nurse coordinator for Lactation Services at NYU Langone Health, told Today Parents that seeing changes in breast milk color is normal. Aside from pink, Leibson said she has seen breast milk in shades of red, brown, green and blue. The latter two hues are almost always caused by the mother's diet.

"Pink or light red milk is safe to feed your baby. Bright red milk caused by an active bleed is also safe, but it's difficult to digest and might cause your baby to throw up," explained Leibson, who described breast milk as "dynamic" and "individual."

According to Leibson, pink or red milk is most often caused by a cracked nipple, while reddish-brown milk is the result of rusty pipe syndrome, an uncommon condition stemming from blood mixing with the colostrum, or first breast milk.

Reactions to the pink breast milk varied, with some thanking Overby for teaching them something new, while others joked about the tinted liquid.

"Bless you moms that are giving the rest of us ladies a heads-up before we become moms. I would've had a heart attack," one commenter said with a laughing emoji.

"Raising little vampires one bottle at a time," another one quipped.

The discolored liquid no longer startles Overby. She has reportedly received tips and tricks from a doctor to prevent clogs, which she said were "extremely painful" and can turn into mastitis — an infection in breast tissue.