Can I breastfeed if I have a fever?

Pregnant women will enter the breastfeeding period after giving birth, but they will inevitably encounter some diseases during breastfeeding, such as colds and fevers, which is quite embarrassing. This makes mothers feel dilemma and they dare not breastfeed their babies. So, can they really breastfeed?

Fever itself is not contagious

Fever itself is not a disease, but a symptom. Many diseases can cause fever, usually infectious diseases. When viruses or bacteria that make people sick invade the human body, the liver releases pyrogens, causing the body temperature to rise. Fever is one of the body's mechanisms to fight infection. It is an effective immune response and a natural process that triggers the body's immune system to fight invaders. Therefore, a fever in itself is not an infection and cannot be transmitted through breastfeeding!

Fever does not spoil breast milk

The mother’s second question was, will the breast milk be damaged by heat? The mammary gland secretes milk and is a gland. If the fever reaches 40 degrees, the breast milk will go bad due to the heat. Then the gastric juice secreted by the gastric glands, the thyroxine secreted by the thyroid gland, the tears secreted by the lacrimal glands, the saliva secreted by the salivary glands, and the bile secreted by the liver will all deteriorate and become rancid, which would be a fatal situation. But, is this possible?

The reason why breastfeeding is not recommended when the temperature is above 38 degrees is because "this indicates that the disease is more serious and you should see a doctor first." This is very un-evidence-based. The level of body temperature does not indicate the severity of the disease. Sometimes, a low-grade fever can be caused by a very serious disease. We also know that many serious illnesses may not cause fever at all.