Association Between Breast Milk Sodium Level and Neonatal Hypernatremia
Girish Joag, Deepak Jeswani, Rama Sandeep Reddy
Abstract
Background: The practice of exclusive breastfeeding is being advocated and increasingly followed. However, hypernatremia is a rare complication that can occur in exclusively breastfed neonates due to the inadequacy of the volume of breast milk or a high level of sodium in the breast milk. The incidence of neonatal hypernatremia is increasingly reported.
Aim: To estimate breast milk sodium level in mothers and to study the association of breast milk sodium level with serum sodium level in neonates on day 3 and day 5 of life
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in maternity wards and the outpatient department of Krishna Hospital and Research Center (Karad, Maharashtra, India) from November 2012 to May 2014. Overall, 93 neonates and their mothers who satisfied the inclusion criteria were enrolled after obtaining their consent.
Results: There was no statistically significant association between breast milk sodium level and serum sodium level in neonates on day 3 and day 5 of life.
Conclusion: We could not find an association between hypernatremia in the neonates and the sodium level in the mother’s breast milk. Hypernatremia associated with an elevated breast milk sodium level may be a rare cause of neonatal hypernatremia. Lack of adequate breastfeeding may be a frequent and major cause of hypernatremia in these cases. Routine estimation of sodium level in the mother’s breast milk is not recommended in neonates with hypernatremia.
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