Question

I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Vitamin K? Is Vitamin K safe for nursing mother and child? Does Vitamin K extracts into breast milk? Does Vitamin K has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Vitamin K influence milk supply or can Vitamin K decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?

Answer by DrLact: About Vitamin K usage in lactation

Vitamin K is naturally found in human milk. Maternal vitamin K supplementation increases milk vitamin K levels and can improve vitamin K status in breastfed infants who receive intramuscular vitamin K shortly after birth. Maternal vitamin K supplementation should not be considered a substitute for vitamin K prophylaxis administered directly to the newborn.[1] Late vitamin K-deficiency bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage, can occur from 2 to 12 weeks and up to 6 months postpartum in breastfed infants.[2] When vitamin K is given by injection to a nursing mother, the U.S. manufacturer recommends the use of unpreserved phytonadione injection to avoid infant exposure to benzyl alcohol, although amounts in milk are likely to be trivial.
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