Mothers with high blood glucose can breastfeed their children, provided that their blood glucose can be controlled within the normal range through a reasonable diet and exercise, or the use of insulin.
Breastfeeding can stimulate the body to produce high levels of prolactin, which in turn improves the function of β-cells and stimulates the secretion of insulin, thus improving glucose metabolism. Moreover, breastfeeding will increase the body’s energy consumption, and glucose will be used to synthesize lactose in milk, resulting in a decrease in blood glucose.
Even for patients treated with insulin, normal breastfeeding is not affected. Insulin, as an autologous protein, has no effect on the quality of breast milk; even if insulin is present in breast milk, it will be broken down and destroyed in the infant’s digestive tract and will not be absorbed in its original form.
However, breastfeeding mothers with high blood sugar are reminded that they should not take medications for hypoglycemic treatment, especially sulfonylureas, such as glibenclamide and gliclazide, which may affect the normal development of the child, and that they should take hypoglycemic treatment under the guidance of a doctor.