Hi Lisa,

I saw that no one answered your post, so I'll try.

This is an extremely serious medical condition, of which I found excellent info at the following website, and the seriousness is addressed below that.



There are quite a number of reasons that the potassium would be high, and depending on that, treatment would follow. Not knowing exactly what the situation is, I would suggest to the mother to express her milk and refrigerate or freeze it (depending on when they will have all the answers). It may be that baby can begin to handle more K+ and can take mother's milk, even partially. It may be that baby has a lifelong syndrome, where the low K+ formula is needed. Just to be clear to someone that may not fully understand this, breastmilk does not have too much K+, but the baby has a medical condition whereby he cannot handle normal levels of K+ and therefore needs very low to no additional K+ is his diet.



Unfortunately, I know of no way to remove the K+ from mother's milk, although someone more knowledgeable than me may know how, but I doubt it.

Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC

Mississippi USA

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/907543-overview



"Plasma potassium levels are generally maintained at 3.5-5 mEq/L in adults. Levels greater than 7 mEq/L can lead to significant hemodynamic and neurologic consequences. Levels exceeding 8.5 mEq/L can cause respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest and can quickly be fatal. High levels of potassium cause abnormal heart and skeletal muscle function by lowering cell-resting action potential and preventing repolarization, leading to muscle paralysis."





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