Integrative medicine offers a comprehensive, holistic approach to health that combines both traditional medicine with evidence-based conventional methods. Breastfeeding moms understand the importance of being healthy for themselves and their babies since their babies' nutrition comes directly from them. When components of health are in question, specialty labs can become useful, as the catalog of specialty labs is vast and includes markers and insights into various aspects of health. This article will discuss how integrative medicine is helpful for breastfeeding moms, why specialty lab testing is important for them, and the top specialty labs that practitioners can utilize for breastfeeding moms. We’ll then discuss the top specialty labs for breastfed babies as well.

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How is Integrative Medicine Useful for Breastfeeding Moms?

Integrative medicine uses a combination of traditional therapies with modern-day conventional treatments. Integrative medicine aims to consider the entire person, including mind, body, and spirit, to stimulate the body’s healing abilities.

For breastfeeding moms, integrative medicine can be of interest and useful for a couple of different reasons. First, breastfeeding moms tend to be more concerned about what they eat and drink since it has the potential to pass on to their children. This includes not only foods and drinks but also medications. Integrative medicine offers other options besides traditional pharmaceuticals. However, integrative medicine practitioners know when it is appropriate to use pharmaceuticals and which ones are safe for breastfeeding moms. More importantly, integrative practitioners take the time to explain the risks and benefits for both mom and baby, as well as offer alternatives to care. Secondly, integrative medicine offers multiple types of therapies. This gives the mom the choice and empowerment to control her body and, ultimately, what her infant receives.

Why is Specialty Lab Testing Important for Breastfeeding Moms?

There are many specialty labs that can be both important and useful for breastfeeding moms. While conventional medicine can help with many common conditions affecting new mothers, integrative medicine, through specialty labs, can help identify the root cause of symptoms that may otherwise be ignored and fall through the cracks.

Top Specialty Lab Tests for Breastfeeding Moms

Top specialty lab tests for breastfeeding moms can include labs that assess hormones, stress, and nutrient status.

Sex Hormone Testing

Prolactin is a hormone that regulates the production of milk in the breastfeeding mother. Prolactin can be measured in the blood and can be found on a sex hormone panel. Additionally, other hormones, including estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA, should also be checked, as these hormones can impact menstrual cycles, energy levels, weight management, and cognitive functioning. These attributes may also be negatively affected by breastfeeding. An important note: sex hormones should not be tested within the first three months after giving birth, as hormones need, at minimum, three months to adjust and regulate.

Boston Heart Diagnostics offers a Female Hormone Panel that includes estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA. The panel also includes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which are two hormones released from the pituitary gland that orchestrates the female menstrual cycle. They also offer a Prolactin test that can be ordered alongside the Female Hormone Panel. It’s essential that the patient works with their provider to determine the appropriate day of the month to have their blood drawn, as female hormones fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, and there is an ideal time to be tested that depends on the patient’s menstrual cycle, testing, and what they’re looking to achieve.

Cortisol Testing

Cortisol is a hormone made in our adrenal glands. It is one of the primary stress hormones found in the body and is important to our circadian rhythm or sleep-wake cycle. Stress and circadian rhythm, including sleep, are two mechanisms that are often activated and dysregulated in breastfeeding moms. Breastfeeding can be incredibly stressful, from worrying about milk production to trying to figure out how to time feedings around or during social activities, and more. Stress can also negatively impact the quality of breast milk. Additionally, it is common for a breastfeeding mom’s circadian rhythm to be altered, especially if they are still waking during the night for feedings.

Cortisol tests can show where cortisol levels are throughout the day, which can then aid the practitioner and mom in making a plan to either lower or raise cortisol levels during specific times of the day, depending on the patient's results. The DUTCH Cortisol Awakening Response test assesses, as its name implies, the cortisol awakening response (CAR). The CAR occurs just after waking and is marked by a spike in cortisol; this should be the highest amount of cortisol produced during the day. Additional cortisol levels will be checked throughout the day to monitor the cortisol curve, which should be on a steady decline after the CAR. Cortisol levels that occur grossly outside the curve can manifest in symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, migraines, blood sugar problems, and more.

Thyroid Testing

The thyroid is an organ that produces thyroid hormones, T4 and T3, that every tissue in the body utilizes. These hormones can affect body temperature, menstrual cycles, metabolism, heart rate, hair and nail growth, energy levels, and more. For breastfeeding moms, breastfeeding can be a fatiguing event on its own, so it’s important that the thyroid gland is functioning correctly to avoid adding to the already lowered energy levels. Additionally, thyroid gland disorders, including hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland lessens the amount of T4 and/or T3 made, can affect the levels of milk-producing and secreting hormones prolactin and oxytocin. This results in a lowered amount of milk produced.

A full thyroid panel, including T4, T3, and the hormone that controls the release of these two hormones, TSH, may be warranted in breastfeeding moms with low energy, milk production problems, hair falling out, and nail peeling. The mom may have one, all of them, or a combination of symptoms. In a hypothyroid state, TSH will be elevated with a low T4 and/or T3. This is because TSH is released from the pituitary gland in the brain, and it tells the thyroid gland when to make thyroid hormones. When the thyroid gland is unresponsive, the pituitary gland continues to produce and release TSH, which is why it becomes elevated. The thyroid panel by Access Medical Laboratories includes TSH, T4, and T3 and thus makes an excellent choice to assess thyroid functioning in breastfeeding moms.

Micronutrient Testing

Breastfeeding requires higher amounts of calories and higher levels of many vitamins and minerals. Folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, thiamin, and cobalamin all have higher recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for breastfeeding women as opposed to non-breastfeeding women.

‍Folate is a b-vitamin necessary for growth and development. Vitamin E is a vitamin found in high amounts in wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and almonds.

‍Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is needed for over 400 reactions in the body, including energy production. Pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, is necessary to create energy from protein and carbohydrate-containing foods. It’s required to make hemoglobin, which is the taxi for oxygen around the body.

‍Riboflavin, commonly known as vitamin B2, is needed for energy production, antioxidant functioning, and methylation, which affects the creation of DNA.

‍Thiamin, or vitamin B1, is required for neurotransmitter production, DNA creation, energy production, and more. Cobalamin, or vitamin B12, is necessary for DNA production, red blood cell production, and the proper functioning of the central nervous system (CNS).

A micronutrient test can assess for levels of these nutrients in one test.

Top Specialty Lab Test for Breastfed Babies

Many breastfed babies will have random symptoms that may come and go on their own. However, when symptoms linger and/or the mom has concerns, specialty lab testing may help to control and reverse the symptoms.

Food Allergies and Sensitivities

Colic is a condition in infants characterized by inconsolable, often high-pitched crying. It is stressful for both baby and mom, as no mother likes to see her child uncomfortable and upset. For colicky babies, food allergies and sensitivity testing may be warranted. If an infant's body is reacting to food, it may be causing unpleasant symptoms, including reflux, gas, cramping, bloating, and more. Since infants cannot talk, crying is their primary way of communicating, and they may be trying to tell everyone that they have these symptoms through crying.  Additionally, eczema is a skin condition that can appear in infants and has been linked to food allergies and sensitivities. Infinite Allergy Labs offers an 88 Food Antigen IgE/IgG4 & IgG panel that assesses both allergies and sensitivities to different foods. Food allergies differ from food sensitivities in that allergies are immediate and have the potential to be life-threatening. Sensitivities are delayed reactions that can occur up to 72 hours after consumption and can manifest in many different ways, including outside the GI tract, such as headaches, joint pain, fatigue, and more. Food allergy and sensitivity testing can be used to formulate a diet for the mom so offending food antigens do not get passed through the breast milk to the baby.

Comprehensive Stool Testing

Comprehensive stool testing includes markers of digestion and absorption, inflammation, and immunity. These tests also give great insight into the microbiome: a collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that live in our large intestine. These microbes complete various tasks, including aiding in digestion and absorption, immune cell formation, inflammatory cascades, and more. It is thought that the microbiome in infants begins in utero and is significantly impacted by the type of delivery, vaginal or cesarean, that the infant has. Breastfeeding infants were also found to have differing microbiome compositions as compared to formulated-fed infants. The composition of the microbiome is important, as it can affect growth, development, respiratory health, and immune health. Comprehensive stool testing, such as GI 360 by Doctors Data, can assess the microbiome and help the practitioner and mom determine if the infant may need an intervention, such as a probiotic, that may help with the composition of the microbiome.

Vitamin D

Breastfeeding babies often lack vitamin D, as vitamin D does not pass well from the mother's body into the breast milk. Because of this, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all breastfed babies, whether fully or partially breastfed, be on a vitamin D supplement with a dose of 400 iu per day. If a mother was not aware of this recommendation and the infant has gone weeks or months without vitamin D, it may be wise to check vitamin D levels in the infant so as to appropriately dose. Vitamin D deficiency can affect bone mineralization and cause a condition called rickets which causes bones to be soft. Rickets can be painful and lead to other problems, including developmental delays, seizures, tooth deformities, heart problems, and an overall failure to thrive. Many lab companies offer vitamin D testing, including the US Bioteks Vitamin D test, which can assess levels of vitamin D so the appropriate dose can be used.

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Summary

When a mom is breastfeeding, they are undertaking one of the most important jobs that they’ll ever have: giving their infant child the nutrition they require. Breastfeeding can take a toll on a mom physically, mentally, and emotionally. Specialty lab testing can help to evaluate various aspects of the mom's health to ensure that she is taken care of mentally, physically, and emotionally. This, in turn, will positively impact the baby: happy mom, happy life! If the baby has symptoms that are not resolved by working on the mom’s health, specialty lab testing may be indicated for the baby to support growth and development.