an old wives’ tale of a pill the colour of milk but in every way its opposite

[GoodTaste]

The midwife bringing an oval pill to suppress the production of breastmilk. It tasted bitter, medieval, an old wives’ tale of a pill the colour of milk but in every way its opposite, and most of all so dry—dry enough to desiccate all the milk of those gentle hours that would have been ours. Without this pill I would overflow with need for him, or worse would be overfilled with need, breasts swollen thick and engorged with milk undrunk, love unspent, milk he would have loved to receive as my body would have loved to give it.

Source: The Lancet

The phrase "an old wives’ tale of a pill the colour of milk but in every way its opposite" appears to be confusing to me. For one thing, what is "its opposite"? The opposite of the milk colour? What is that?

 

[5jj]

The pill is the colour of milk, but it is the opposite of milk. It is not-milk. it is designed to stop the milk that is lifegiving.

 

[Tdol]

It is a pill the colour of milk to stop her lactating after the death of her child. This is a very emotional piece about the loss of a baby, but one that looks at the scientific aspects around the death of a child. Old wives' tales are the wisdom passed down by generations of women's experiences, often regarded as unscientific.