Diseases that affect breast-feeding
Most women with chronic illnesses or infectious diseases can breast-feed.
- Women with diabetes usually can breast-feed but may need to follow a special diet. They may be able to lower their insulin doses while breast-feeding because their blood glucose is being used for milk production.
- Women with cystic fibrosis or phenylketonuria (PKU) must have their milk and their infant's health monitored when breast-feeding.
- In most cases, breast-feeding is possible when the mother has hepatitis A, chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C, or cytomegalovirus (CMV).
However, other diseases may make breast milk unsafe for the baby. A woman should not breast-feed if she:
- Is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) because she can pass the virus to her baby in her milk.1
- Has active tuberculosis or some viral infections (such as active, acute hepatitis).
- Has sores on her breast caused by infections (such as herpes, syphilis, or chickenpox) until the illness has been resolved or successfully treated.
A rare hormonal disorder called Sheehan's syndrome makes a woman unable to produce milk or to produce enough milk to feed her baby. Sheehan's syndrome results from severe bleeding (hemorrhaging) immediately after giving birth.
| Author: | Kathe Gallagher, MSW | Last Updated: May 10, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine | |
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