Breast milk vitamin B-12 concentrations in Guatemalan women are correlated with maternal but not infant vitamin B-12 status at 12 months postpartum.

In our previous studies, one-third of lactating Guatemalan women, infants, and children had deficient or marginal serum vitamin B-12 concentrations. Relationships among maternal and infant status and breast milk vitamin B-12, however, have not, to our knowledge, been investigated in such populations. Our purpose was to measure breast milk vitamin B-12 in Guatemalan women with a range of serum vitamin B-12 concentrations and explore associations between milk vitamin B-12 concentrations and maternal and infant vitamin B-12 intake and status. Participants were 183 mother-infant pairs breastfeeding at 12 mo postpartum. Exclusion criteria included mother <17 y, infant <11.5 or >12.5 mo, multiple birth, reported health problems in mother or infant, and mother pregnant >3 mo. Data collected on mothers and infants included anthropometry, serum and breast milk vitamin B-12, and dietary vitamin B-12. Serum vitamin B-12 concentrations indicated deficiency (<150 pmol/L) in 35% of mothers and 27% of infants and marginal status (150-220 pmol/L) in 35% of mothers and 17% of infants. In a multiple regression analysis, breast milk vitamin B-12 concentration was associated (P < 0.05) with both maternal vitamin B-12 intake (r = 0.26) and maternal serum vitamin B-12 (r = 0.30). Controlling for the number of breastfeeds per day and vitamin B-12 intake from complementary foods, infant serum vitamin B-12 was associated with maternal serum vitamin B-12 (r = 0.31; P < 0.001) but not breast milk vitamin B-12, implicating a long-term effect of pregnancy status on infant vitamin B-12 status at 12 mo postpartum.