Effect of vitamin a supplementation, cooking oil fortification, and nutrition education to postpartum mother on breast milk retinol levels

AIM: The study aims to determine the effect of two forms of Vitamin A supplementation (dose of 2 × 200 000 IU and dose of 1 × 200 000 IU), Vitamin A fortified cooking oil and nutritional education on retinol levels of breast milk.

METHODS: A quasi-experiment design was used in this study with a total of 129 subjects divided into four groups; Group A (given 2 capsule of Vitamin A), Group B (given 1 capsule of Vitamin A), Group C (given cooking oil fortification), and Group D (given nutritional education). Retinol levels of the breast milk were measured 3 times (before, during, and after intervention).

RESULTS: There were no differences in subject characteristics in terms of age, education, occupation, parity, and nutritional status between intervention groups (p > 0.05). The average of breast milk retinol levels was 52.15 μg/dl at the beginning. At the end of the measurement, the average decrease in breast milk retinol levels was higher in Group D (−27.2 μg/dl), and the lowest was in Group C (−9.9 μg/dl). The results of statistical tests showed that there was no difference in breast milk retinol levels between intervention groups in before, during, and after the intervention (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Fortified cooking oil and Vitamin A supplementation (1 × 200 000 IU) tend to maintain normal levels of retinol in breast milk compared to Vitamin A supplementation (2 × 200 000 IU) and nutrition education.