Wife has osteoporosis, will her breastmilk have insufficient calcium?

QUESTION: My wife (35 years old) suffers from osteoporosis. She has been breastfeeding our baby for three months. She has a lot of calcium in her diet (1200 -1500 mg per day) mostly from milk and dairy products.

Is there any likelihood that her breastmilk will have insufficient calcium for the baby's needs due to her low calcium reserves in her skeleton ?

Dear Matthew,

Your letter was forwarded to me for reply by Breastfeeding.com. It is an interesting question! As with most information regarding breastfeeding, research has really only been going on for the past 10-15 years. Prior to that, there just weren't enough women breastfeeding! So we certainly don't have all the answers.

We do know that breastfeeding seems to offer women a protective benefit against osteoporosis. Women who exclusively breastfeed 6-9 months have a 73% reduction in risk of osteoporosis. During the early months of breastfeeding, there is a deficit in bone mass. However, after weaning, it appears to build up again - usually to a level higher than before - playing "catch-up." (I think a good analogy is that it is similar to a broken bone. After healing, the bone actually becomes stronger than before.) I personally know of a woman with osteoporosis who, after 21 months of breastfeeding, found that her bone density during the second pregnancy had gone up enough to put her in the normal range! Hopefully, the same could be true for your wife. I'd love to hear back from you when the next test is done!

In answer to your question, it is extremely unlikely that the breastmilk would have insufficient calcium. By the way, calcium appears only in small quantities in human breast milk. However, we know that babies can absorb a much higher percentage of this calcium - approximately 67% - compared with only about 25% in cows milk. (The same is true with the iron in breastmilk.) In her book "Lactation: Physiology, Nutrition, and Breast-Feeding," Drs. Marianne Neifert and Margaret C. Neville say, "the replacement of calcium lost in the milk requires an intake of about 250 mg/day. Recommendations for total daily intake are 1200 mg, based on 500 mg basal + 700 mg for milk production." Since your wife is taking in 1200-1500 mg., she is replacing what she is using.

Good luck to all of you. Your wife is doing the best thing in the world to help your baby get the best start possible. She deserves your praise and support. Continue to do that and hopefully it will also help improve HER health!

Please let me know if I can be of further help.
Cher Sealy, RN, BSN, IBCLC

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