bf and heart murmur?!!

[07lilmama1108]

I suddenly have a "small" heart murmur and the dr says it's from bf... is that true or possible?? Anyone else have this and it went away after bf??

[Precious333]

Never heard of a murmur because of breastfeeding. I have a slight heart murmur that I had checked out, turned out to be nothing.

[McMomma3]

Whaaaa? That's a new one.

[MumsTheWord571]

I seriously doubt breastfeeding had anything to do with a heart murmur.

[maggiemom2000]

I'm asking my favorite experts. I'll let you know what they say (they know everything!)

[maggiemom2000]

Here's what I got:

"Pregnancy can lead to heart murmurs (probably because of extra blood volume). They usually resolve shortly after birth. Perhaps it is something the Dr noticed during pregnancy, and assumes bfing is prolonging it? Otherwise, no, I've never heard of bfing causing a heart murmur. I don't think bfing should even prolong a pregnancy-related heart murmur because the excess blood volume of pregnancy is no longer an issue."

" Breastfeeding does not perpetuate the conditions of pregnancy.A lot of practitioners seem to think that pregnancy and breastfeeding are really the same thing."

http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/52/3/381.abstract

Heart Murmurs in Pregnancy: A Phonocardiographic Study of their Development, Progression and Regression

1. Leonard M. Goldberg and 
2. Hugo Uhland

+Author Affiliations

1. Department of Internal Medicine, Emanuel Hospital, Portland, Oregon
2. Chief Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Emanuel Hospital

Abstract

Heart murmurs are extremely common in the pregnant patient, occurring in approximately 93 per cent. No specific pattern of distribution by five-week interval could be determined. It was characteristic in 60 per cent of patients that the murmur would appear and disappear at unpredictable intervals. The largest percentage of maximal murmurs is noted in mid-pregnancy (15-25 weeks), showing a gradual but definite decline thereafter to term, with a resurgence in numbers and intensity during active labor and in the immediate postpartum period. This discrepancy of expected correlation of murmur frequency and magnitude with known physiologic circulatory alterations of pregnancy is enigmatic. Possible contributing factors are briefly discussed.

Third heart sounds are also very common, occurring in 83 per cent of patients, in a pattern of distribution similar to that of maximal murmurs.

Patients followed through the six-week postpartum period showed a marked decrease in incidence of heart murmurs.

[07lilmama1108]

Thank you for looking into this!!
Im 4 months pp, ebf and nobody has detected a murmur until today. My 6 week checkup and a 2 month pp visit showed no murmur so it's very recent. :(

Quoting maggiemom2000:

Here's what I got:

"Pregnancy can lead to heart murmurs (probably because of extra blood volume). They usually resolve shortly after birth. Perhaps it is something the Dr noticed during pregnancy, and assumes bfing is prolonging it? Otherwise, no, I've never heard of bfing causing a heart murmur. I don't think bfing should even prolong a pregnancy-related heart murmur because the excess blood volume of pregnancy is no longer an issue."

" Breastfeeding does not perpetuate the conditions of pregnancy.A lot of practitioners seem to think that pregnancy and breastfeeding are really the same thing."

http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/52/3/381.abstract

Heart Murmurs in Pregnancy: A Phonocardiographic Study of their Development, Progression and Regression

1. Leonard M. Goldberg and 
2. Hugo Uhland

+Author Affiliations

1. Department of Internal Medicine, Emanuel Hospital, Portland, Oregon
2. Chief Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Emanuel Hospital

Abstract

Heart murmurs are extremely common in the pregnant patient, occurring in approximately 93 per cent. No specific pattern of distribution by five-week interval could be determined. It was characteristic in 60 per cent of patients that the murmur would appear and disappear at unpredictable intervals. The largest percentage of maximal murmurs is noted in mid-pregnancy (15-25 weeks), showing a gradual but definite decline thereafter to term, with a resurgence in numbers and intensity during active labor and in the immediate postpartum period. This discrepancy of expected correlation of murmur frequency and magnitude with known physiologic circulatory alterations of pregnancy is enigmatic. Possible contributing factors are briefly discussed.

Third heart sounds are also very common, occurring in 83 per cent of patients, in a pattern of distribution similar to that of maximal murmurs.

Patients followed through the six-week postpartum period showed a marked decrease in incidence of heart murmurs.

[maggiemom2000]

Quoting 07lilmama1108:

Thank you for looking into this!!
Im 4 months pp, ebf and nobody has detected a murmur until today. My 6 week checkup and a 2 month pp visit showed no murmur so it's very recent. :(

Is it the same doc or a different one? I know that I have a hear murmur (always have) and most docs do not hear it. I'm always impressed when one does because most do not. I wonder if you could have had one for awhile and this is just the first doc to hear it?

[07lilmama1108]

Same Dr for the past 6 years. I've had 2 visits since ds was born and he didn't hear it then. My thyroid levels were off during pregnancy so he is rechecking my thyroid... my gma had her first heart attack at 36 which is a big reason I'm nervous. But he wants to wait until I'm done bf before running any big tests. He doesn't want me to feel like i need to stop bfing because of this.

Quoting maggiemom2000:

Quoting 07lilmama1108:

Thank you for looking into this!!

Im 4 months pp, ebf and nobody has detected a murmur until today. My 6 week checkup and a 2 month pp visit showed no murmur so it's very recent. :(

Is it the same doc or a different one? I know that I have a hear murmur (always have) and most docs do not hear it. I'm always impressed when one does because most do not. I wonder if you could have had one for awhile and this is just the first doc to hear it?