Daily AncestorMilk leg
Milk leg was the old name for a painful, swollen white leg in a new mother, caused by a deep vein blood clot after childbirth.
Milk leg, also called white leg, described a leg that became swollen, pale and painful in the weeks after a woman gave birth. Modern medicine connects it to a deep vein blood clot.
People once believed breast milk had settled in the leg, which is where the name came from. A clot could travel to the lungs, which explains why milk leg sometimes appears as a cause of death.
As seen in a recordCause of death line on an early 1900s death certificate
Cause of death: Milk leg. Contributory: Childbirth 3 weeks prior.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Milk leg." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/milk-leg. Last checked 2026-10-01.