Although rare, some new mothers can develop osteoporosis or bone fractures due to loss of calcium through breastfeeding, National Taiwan University Hospital doctors said on Monday.
A 38-year-old woman surnamed Chen (陳), who at the time was 153cm tall and weighed 47kg, gave birth to her first child last year and began breastfeeding, but reported back pain and a hunch, and was measured as 10cm shorter a few months later, the hospital said.
Chen was diagnosed with osteoporosis and eight spinal compression fractures.
Chiu Wei-yih (邱偉益), an attending physician in the Internal Medicine Department who treated Chen, said that if a baby drinks about 700ml of breast milk per day, it would remove about 200ml of calcium from the mother, while she would lose about 100ml of calcium in her urine per day.
Therefore, the mother’s total loss of calcium would be more than the estimated 150ml taken in from food per day, Chiu said.
He said that if mothers neglect their calcium intake, breastfeeding can cause reduced bone density, increased risk of osteoporosis and loss of height.
Tsai Keh-sung (蔡克嵩), a professor in the department, said mothers start providing calcium for the fetus from conception, while hormonal changes mean they absorb more calcium through the digestive tract.
However, breastfeeding mothers will lose bone density rapidly if they do not consume sufficient calcium, he said, adding that in the past two years the hospital has treated five young mothers who had spinal compression fractures and loss of bone density due to breastfeeding.
Chiu said that although such cases are rare — about five in 200,000 — breastfeeding mothers should consume about 1,000mg to 2,500mg of calcium and 10mg to 50mg of vitamin D per day.
Yang Rong-sen (楊榮森), an attending physician in the Department of Orthopedics, said mothers who have thinner bones, slender body types — a body mass index of less than 18 — or have more than one baby at a time face an increased risk of osteoporosis from breastfeeding.
He urged pregnant women or women who have recently given birth to seek medical advice if they experience frequent back or waist pains or notice their height decreasing.
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