Avoid Epsom Salt Baths while Pregnant or Breastfeeding
Jamie Temple
After breaking my foot, I went to my acupuncturist for some pain relief. As acupuncturist and massage therapist often suggest, she suggested that I go home and take an Epsom salt bath for pain relief.
Not thinking anything of it, I scooped a cup of Epsom salt into the tub and filled it waist high. After soaking for 30 minutes, I got out and decided to pump and feed my son at the same time since I needed to store up milk for my post-surgery recovery time. My son became extremely fussy when trying to eat and I realized that I was not producing any milk although it had been nearly 3 hours since I fed him last.
Thinking back on the past few hours, I tried to determine if I consumed anything different and quickly realized that the Epsom salt bath was the only thing out of the norm. I searched online for warnings against Epsom salt baths while nursing and only found a few postings in forums about women drinking an Epsom salt water solution to help dry up milk during weaning. This made me panic, and I quickly drank 40 oz of water and 16 oz of Mother’s Milk tea (Amazon link to this amazing tea). Since I had a supply of milk in the freezer, we heated up some milk to feed our baby while I waited about 4 hours for my milk supply to return to normal.
Although this was a horrible experience, it did not put my son in danger since we could have fed him even if my dry spell lasted longer. What is scarier is that in the last weeks of my pregnancy I had low amniotic fluid and was instructed to relax and drink fluids over the weekend. Luckily, I was able to super-hydrate and increase my fluid levels enough that the midwives did not need to induce labor. I often took Epsom salt baths during pregnancy and I have a suspicion that Epsom salt was to blame for my low amniotic fluid.
Some research: Thomas Hale, author of Medications & Mothers’ Milk (Amazon link), states on his website (www.InfantRisk.com) that Epsom salt is unlikely to transfer to breast milk but does not mention effects on milk supply. I ordered a copy of his book today, so I will post an update if it contains any relevant information.
Am I the only one out there who had this happen?