Question

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

Milk of magnesia lactation summary

Milk of magnesia is safe in breastfeeding
  • DrLact safety Score for Milk of magnesia is 1 out of 8 which is considered Safe as per our analyses.
  • A safety Score of 1 indicates that usage of Milk of magnesia is mostly safe during lactation for breastfed baby.
  • Our study of different scientific research also indicates that Milk of magnesia does not cause any serious side effects in breastfeeding mothers.
  • Most of scientific studies and research papers declaring usage of Milk of magnesia safe in breastfeeding are based on normal dosage and may not hold true for higher dosage.
  • Score calculated using the DrLact safety Version 1.2 model, this score ranges from 0 to 8 and measures overall safety of drug in lactation. Scores are primarily calculated using publicly available case studies, research papers, other scientific journals and publically available data.

Answer by Dr. Ru: About Milk of magnesia usage in lactation

Ingested Magnesium does not concentrate into breast milk.. Naturally occurring, the mean Magnesium concentration in the milk is 31 mg/L (range 15 – 64 mg/L) and not affected by the ingestion of Magnesium. Because of a low oral bioavailability the pass from the breast milk toward the infant's plasma is hampered, except in premature and newborn infants who may exhibit a higher intestinal absorption due to an increased permeability. Avoid chronic or excessive use. WHO Model List of Essential Medicines 2002: Milk of magnesia is compatible with breastfeeding.

Answer by DrLact: About Milk of magnesia usage in lactation

A study on the use of Milk of magnesia during breastfeeding found no adverse reactions in breastfed infants. Intravenous magnesium increases milk magnesium concentrations only slightly. Oral absorption of magnesium by the infant is poor, so maternal Milk of magnesia is not expected to affect the breastfed infant's serum magnesium. Milk of magnesia supplementation during pregnancy might delay the onset of lactation, but it can be taken during breastfeeding and no special precautions are required.

Milk of magnesia Side Effects in Breastfeeding

Fifty mothers who were in the first day postpartum received 15 mL of either mineral oil or an emulsion of mineral oil and Milk of magnesia equivalent to 900 mg of Milk of magnesia, although the exact number who received each product was not stated. Additional doses were given on subsequent days if needed. None of the breastfed infants were noted to have any markedly abnormal stools, but all of the infants also received supplemental feedings.[2]

Milk of magnesia Possible Effects in Breastfeeding

One mother who received intravenous magnesium sulfate for 3 days for pregnancy-induced hypertension had lactogenesis II delayed until day 10 postpartum. No other specific cause was found for the delay, although a complete work-up was not done.[3] A subsequent controlled clinical trial found no evidence of delayed lactation in mothers who received intravenous magnesium sulfate therapy.[4] Some, but not all, studies have found a trend toward increased time to the first feeding or decreased sucking in infants of mothers treated with intravenous magnesium sulfate during labor because of placental transfer of magnesium to the fetus.[4][5] A study in 40 pairs of matched healthy women with vaginally delivered singleton pregnancies, outcome endpoints were compared in those receiving continuous oral magnesium aspartate HCl supplementation mean dose of 459 mg daily (range 365 to 729 mg of magnesium daily) for at least 4 weeks before delivery versus non-supplemented controls. In the magnesium group, significantly fewer women could breastfeed their infants exclusively at discharge (63% vs 80%).[6]
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