Breastfeeding and Moms With Diabetes

Mothers who have type 1 or 2 diabetes (diabetes mellitus), or who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy, may worry that breastfeeding could make their symptoms worse or that their diet or medical condition could complicate nursing. Type 1 and 2 diabetes develop when the body is unable to move sugar, or glucose, out of the blood and into the cells to be transformed into fuel. Symptoms may include intense thirst, blurred vision, fatigue, and a constant need to urinate. If left untreated, diabetes may lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and more. Gestational diabetes affects pregnant women who have never before had diabetes. Although the condition generally disappears after delivery, studies show that about 40 percent of women who get gestational diabetes develop type 2 diabetes in the next 15 years.

Mothers with diabetes, or who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy, may breastfeeding their baby, provided you monitor your diet and lifestyle extra carefully in order regulate your condition. Some women report better overall health — and less of a need for insulin — during lactation, possibly because of their body's natural adjustment to physical and metabolic changes after delivery. In fact, a diabetic's need for insulin drops abruptly within hours after birth. The stress-busting hormone oxytocin that a woman's body releases during breastfeeding can also help a diabetic mom feel better physically and emotionally.

Breastfeeding will give your infant a head start on a healthy life. It also may help his blood sugar levels — which react in utero to his mother's glucose imbalance — adjust. A medical expert should monitor your baby immediately after birth to make sure this happens naturally or with the help of oral or intravenous glucose.

If you have diabetes, your milk may take five or six days (rather than three or four) to come in. If you feel well enough, put your baby to your breast as soon as possible after delivery. And for the health and safety of your baby and yourself, be sure to discuss your condition, as well as the medications you're willing take during labor (some drugs may interfere with breastfeeding) with your doctor beforehand.

Lower Diabetes Risk for Infants

Breastfed babies may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. The analysis suggests as many as one in 20 cases of type 2 diabetes seen in industrialized nations could be attributable to formula feeding. When seven studies involving almost 77,000 people were combined, breastfeeding appeared to lower diabetes risk by roughly 39%, according to researcher Christopher G. Owen, PhD. The analysis is published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Breastfeeding in infancy is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes," Owen tells WebMD. "Whether this effect is attributed to a difference in the content of breast milk compared to (commercial) formula, or whether the family environment and nurture of breastfed infants is the cause remains to be established." The number of middle-aged Americans with type 2 diabetes has doubled over the last 30 years; similar increases are being seen throughout the developed world.

Studies assessing the impact of breastfeeding on diabetes risk have been inconsistent, with some finding a protective benefit and others finding little benefit. In an effort to better understand the role of breastfeeding in later-life diabetes, Owen and colleagues from the University of London conducted a systematic review of the published research. Twenty-three studies examining the impact of infant feeding on later type 2 diabetes risk were identified.

University of Rochester professor of pediatrics Ruth Lawrence, MD, who helped write the AAP guidelines, says published studies may actually underestimate breastfeeding's impact on childhood and adult obesity. "Babies who are exclusively breastfed seem to have a big advantage," she says. "There is not one single study suggesting that formula is better than breast milk."