Diabetes And Pregnancy: These Women Are At A Higher Risk Of Low Milk Supply

Women who have diabetes when pregnant are at a significantly higher risk of having a low milk supply, according to new findings published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center looked at existing electronic medical records of 641 women who visited the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine between June 1, 2011, and May 31, 2013. The women in the study were no more than 90 days postpartum and were highly motivated to breastfeed, researchers said.

Mothers in the study who were diagnosed with low milk supply but who did not have lactation problems, were compared to counterparts with both lactation issues but sans short milk supply. Close to 15 percent of those in the first group had a history of diabetes during pregnancy, while just over 6 percent with lactation problems but not low milk supply had maternal diabetes. 

"This study shows the importance of further research to determine how maternal glucose intolerance may impede lactation, so that targeted therapies may be developed to increase milk supply," lead study author Sarah Riddle, MD, a pediatrician in the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at Cincinnati Children's, said in a news release. "There are limited evidence-based strategies for helping mothers to increase milk supply, and low milk supply is often cited as the reason for new mothers to stop breastfeeding earlier than planned."

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