Can you still produce milk if you've never breastfed?

[Harnah]

Hi, not sure if this is the right place. My little one is 20 months never breastfed. Today I have noticed milk leaking. I have had sore nipples for a week. Is this normal?

[Seb9]

When you're pregnant your body gears up to feed baby till they are weaned which occurs normally between 2 and 4 years, so it's definitely possible that your milk has always been there ready to feed baby but not produced a lot because you didn't use it, if you've been hormonal it could kick it off.

It's probably a good idea though to give your GP a call and speak to them about it. It is best to get out checked out anyways just in case. Xx

[roxannacar]

You need to see your gp. Lots of reasons for lactation/ nipple discharge. I would not say it's normal to lactate at this point ... Your hormones for lactation are long gone if you never breast fed, in fact milk dries up in a week or two once you stop breastfeeding.

Hope that helps.

[Harnah in reply to roxannacar]

Thank you, I am in a lot of pain. Just scared of what it might be I have a history of breast cancer in the family 😪

[roxannacar in reply to Harnah]

Doesn't mean it's cancer problem, things like infection can give you nipple discharge and hormone imbalances. Could it be you're pregnant again? If you're in pain even more reason to get it checked.

[SCsquared]

As the others have recommended, I would definitely suggest speaking with your GP. It can be scary when your body is doing things that you don't expect, but the only way to get to the bottom of it is to speak to a professional x