I am still trying to make my way through a huge backlog of vitamin D
inquiries. Included in that collection are a few Lactnet posts. Way back on
March 31, 2003, Pat Gima posted this question to Lactnet: "If mothers do
not pass Vit D through their milk, then why would the shrouded mothers'
infants have any greater incidence of rickets? The infants and children
are not shrouded."
This is a good question. Maternal vitamin D status and infant vitamin D
status can be correlated for a variety of reasons. For example, maternal
vitamin D status is directly proportional to infant vitamin D status at
birth. A mother with low vitamin D status will give birth to a baby with
low fetal vitamin D stores. Also, maternal sun exposure is often a
reflection of infant sun exposure. A mother living at a higher latitude has
a baby also living at a higher latitude. A mother who avoids sun exposure
may also avoid sun exposure for her baby (for reasons of culture, religion,
fear of skin cancer...). A mother living in a crowded inner city with lots
of pollution, tall buildings, and unsafe neighborhoods has a baby living in
those circumstances, too. Taking a walk may not yield much UVB exposure for
mother and baby and may not even be an option, anyway.
When infants get adequate sun exposure, their vitamin D status is
independent of their mother's because they are making adequate vitamin D
regardless of the magnitude of their stores at birth or the amount that
they are getting via their mother's milk.
For more information, see my article, "Sunlight Deficiency: A Review of the
Literature," available from the publications page and the vitamin D page of
my website.
Hope this is helpful in spite of the delay,
Cynthia
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS clinical psychology, IBCLC, RLC
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell
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