Milk iron content in breast-feeding mothers after administration of intravenous iron sucrose complex

Abstract

To study the transfer of parenteral iron sucrose into maternal milk in the postpartum period. Ten healthy lactating mothers with functional iron deficiency 2-3 days after delivery received 100 mg intravenous iron sucrose and were observed together with a control group (n=5) without iron treatment during four days. Milk samples were taken before the treatment and every day afterwards. Mean milk iron levels at baseline were 0.43 and 0.46 mg/kg in the treatment and control group and decreased until the end of observation in both groups by 0.11 mg/kg. No significant difference between the groups was found on any study day as well as in the mean change from baseline over all four days. We could not show transfer of iron-sucrose into maternal milk for the given dosage. Since parenteral iron sucrose is widely used in obstetrics, the results provide information about safety of parenteral iron sucrose in the lactation period. The findings are also in agreement with other reports on active biological mammary gland regulation of milk iron concentration.