Vitamin B-12 is an important nutrient that plays a vital role in the formation of DNA. It also helps facilitate a healthy metabolism. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements says that women normal need about 2.4 mcg per day, but breastfeeding women require 2.8 mcg of vitamin B-12 a day. It is important that breastfeeding women get enough vitamin B-12, since a deficiency can lead to severe health problems.
Animal Proteins
Meats and other animal proteins such as chicken, beef, tuna, salmon, milk and eggs, are the most common sources of vitamin B-12 in the diet. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements says that a 3 oz. serving of cooked salmon has about 4.8 mcg of vitamin B-12, while a slice of beef liver has 48 mcg. Vegetarian women may have a hard time getting enough vitamin B-12 in their diet, since they do not consume any meats. Vegans, who consume no meat, dairy or eggs, run the risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency, which can be dangerous while nursing a baby.
Risks to Mother
Nursing women require more vitamin B-12 than women who bottle-feed, since nursing takes extra calories and nutrients out of the body to provide for the baby. Unfortunately, if a woman doesn't consume enough vitamin B-12 in her diet, she may be at risk for a host of symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that vitamin B-12 deficiency can result in depression, motor problems, weakness, loss of vision and hallucinations.
Risks to Baby
Kelly Bonyata, international board-certified lactation consultant, states that if a nursing woman is deficient in vitamin B-12 and her baby is breastfed exclusively with no formula, the baby will also be deficient in the vitamin. She says that although women do not always show clinical symptoms of the deficiency, babies usually do. Babies with vitamin B-12 deficiency may vomit more frequently, be lethargic, have anemia and can even have poor mental development. The major risk lies in the fact that poor infant growth and development from vitamin B-12 deficiency may be irreversible, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Supplementation
Most nursing women do not need to supplement with vitamin B-12, according to Bonyata. Physician and registered dietitian Reed Mangels of the Vegetarian Resource Group says that vitamin B-12 supplements are important for pregnant and breastfeeding vegans to take. Reed recommends that women also eat a variety of foods that have been fortified with vitamin B-12 such as breakfast cereals, soy beverages and nutritional yeast, which can be sprinkled into soups or casseroles.
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