Estrogens, lactation and oral glucose tolerance test in the early puerperium.

An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed on 98 women free from any known risk factor of diabetes on the fifth day of the puerperium. Results show that OGTT is greatly influenced by the conditions of lactation. A high proportion of abnormal curves (50%) is found among the group of women receiving estrogens as lactation suppressors at the time of the test. However, in breast feeding women or in non breast feeding women not given estrogen, the proportion of abnormal curves is less than 10%. It is concluded that the unexplained previously reported lack of specificity of the OGTT in the early puerperium could be related to hormonal treatment for lactation suppression.