Background As breastfeeding awareness and social acceptance are increased, maternal
nutritional deficiency requires more investigation. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted to determine if
vitamin A deficiency is more common in pregnant, lactating post-
bariatric surgery women in an inner city population. Antepartum, women after
bariatric surgery and controls with no history of malabsorption were recruited. Third trimester, postpartum maternal blood and cord blood were collected as well as three breast milk samples: colostrum, transitional and mature milk. A nutritional survey of diet was completed. Each serum sample was analyzed for total
retinol and β-
carotene; breast milk samples were analyzed for
retinol and
retinyl esters, total
retinol and β-
carotene. Results Fifty-three women after
bariatric surgery and 66 controls were recruited. Postpartum serum
retinol was significantly higher in women after
bariatric surgery in the univariate analysis (P<0.0001) and confirmed in the multiple linear mixed model (P=0.0001). Breast milk colostrum
retinol and transitional milk total
retinol were significantly greater in the
bariatric surgery group in the univariate analysis (P=0.03 and P=0.02, respectively), but not after adjusting for confounders. Serum β-
carotene in the third trimester and postpartum were lower (P<0.0001 and P=0.003, respectively) in the
bariatric surgery group but not after adjusting for confounders.
Vitamin A deficiency was high in both groups in serum and breast milk samples. Conclusion
Nutritional deficiencies in breastfeeding women after
bariatric surgeries may in fact be less common than in control women in an inner city.