Changes of bone mineral density in pregnant and postpartum women.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the effects of pregnancy and postpartal lactation on bone mineral density (BMD).


METHODS
In this study, the BMD of 22 pregnant women in a longitudinal study, and of 75 pregnant and 111 puerperant women in a cross-sectional study was estimated at the distal radius of the forearm by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. BMD was measured on 8 separate occasions from the first trimester of pregnancy to 24 months' postpartum.


RESULTS
In none of 22 pregnant women was there any noticeable change in BMD during pregnancy. Whereas no significant change in BMD occurred during the 12-month postpartum period in 11 non-lactating women, 11 women who breastfed had a significant decrease in BMD at 1, 3, and 6 months' postpartum, with all of them showing a further decrease in BMD at 12 months' postpartum. The BMD of the radius was significantly lower in the breast-feeders than in the formula-feeders at all postpartal times of evaluation except at 24 months' postpartum.


CONCLUSIONS
It can be recommended that lactating women receive appropriate treatments for saving BMD during lactation.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
I
I
Matsumoto
S
S
Kosha
S
S
Noguchi
N
N
Kojima
T
T
Oki
T
T
Douchi
Y
Y
Nagata
D000328:Adult; D015519:Bone Density; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*