Hi Lactnetters
My name is Jessica and I am a nursing student and cross country runner at the University of North Dakota. I have an interest in infant acceptance of postexercise milk. I have done some research on the topic and here are some of the studies and journal articles that caught my attention.
One study demonstrated that moderate aerobic exercise done four to six times a week beginning at six to eight weeks post partum had no adverse affect on lactation and improved the mothers’ cardiovascular fitness. It also noted that the mothers in the exercise group did not mention any difficulties in nursing after exercise. (Dewey, 1994, p 449-453)
Another study had similar results. In this study the researchers studied the milk of 24 women 2 to 4 months postpartum. Each woman expressed her breast milk one hour before and one-hour after completing a maximal oxygen uptake test (very vigorous exercise), 30 minutes of moderate exercise, and a resting control session. The mothers then bottle-fed their infants the expressed breast milk and rated the infant’s acceptance. The feedings were videotaped for review and scoring by a lactation consultation. All breast milk samples were evaluated for levels of lactic acid. Maximal oxygen uptake test doubled the levels of lactic acid. Yet there was no differences in the acceptance of the breast milk by the infants. Researchers concluded that moderate or even high-intensity exercise during lactation does not impede infant acceptance of breast milk consumed one hour postexercise. (Wright, 2002, p 585-589)
A study done by Wallace (1992) had much different results. This study concluded that infant acceptance of postexercise breast milk was significantly lower than preexercise milk. Maximal exercise resulted in a significant increase in lactic acid concentration of the breast milk to a point in which it may be high enough to affect the taste of the milk thus resulting in the lower infant acceptance scores. (Wallace, 1992, p 1245-1247).
A case report by Duffy (1997) discussed a long distance runner’s efforts to resume her active lifestyle and breastfeed her first child. About six weeks after the birth of her child she began running four to five miles a day (she eased somewhat into this over the course of three weeks). After running four to five miles a day for four or five days in a row she breastfed her baby without any difficulties one to two hours after her run. Within one hour of the feeding the baby started "screaming and writhing in pain" pulling his legs up and down and arching his back. Nothing could calm him down and had never before been a fussy baby. This worried the mother so she talked to a pediatrician who suggested she feed the baby formula for a few days and pump and discard her own breast milk to keep her supply. She did as told and then decided to try breastfeeding once again. Again after one of her long runs the infant had the same reaction. She tried the pediatrician’s suggestion once ag
ain. She started breastfeeding after the break and again after a long run this reaction occurred again! She was reluctant to breastfeed her infant after runs so instead she pumped and discarded breast milk after runs and replaced only that feeding with formula (pre-pumped breast milk would have been ideal). This method seemed to work without any negative reaction from the infant. (Duffy, 1997, p 145-146)
Since the benefits of both breastfeeding and exercise are obvious, I was hoping to hear some of the suggestions that you give to mothers who are wondering about when to breastfeed in regards to their workout routine. Thank you for any help you can give me.
Jessica Neva
References
Dewey, K. G., Lovelady, C. A., Nommsen-Rivers, L. A., et al. (1994). A randomized study of the
effects of aerobic exercise by lactating women of breast milk volume and composition.
New England Journal of Medicine, 330, 449-453.
Duffy, L. (1997). Breastfeeding after strenuous aerobic exercise: a case report. Journal of Human
Lactation, 13, 145-146.
Wallace, J. P., Inbar, G., & Ernsthausen, K. (1992). Infant acceptance of postexercise breast milk.
Pediatrics, 89, 1245-1247.
Wright, K. S., Quinn, T. J., & Carey, G. B. (2002). Infant acceptance of breast milk after maternal
exercise. Pediatrics, 109, 585-589.
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