The Study
Associations between SARS-CoV-2 Infection or COVID-19 Vaccination and Human Milk Composition: A Multi-Omics Approach
This study looked at breast milk from people who had COVID-19, got vaccinated, or neither, and checked for differences. It found some changes in proteins, fats, and other parts of the milk, especially after infection. But because it didn’t randomly assign people to groups, it can’t prove the infection or vaccine caused the changes — only that they’re linked.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at breast milk to see if it changes when a mom gets a COVID vaccine or gets infected with the virus.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 527 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The changes from vaccines are very small compared to getting sick, so vaccines are much less disruptive to breast milk.
- 2When a mom gets infected, 67 proteins, 385 fats, and 13 chemicals in milk change.
- 3With vaccines, no fats or chemicals change, and fewer than 13 proteins change.
- 4No vaccine parts were found in the milk.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
bioRxiv
Year
2024
Authors
Sneha P. Couvillion, E. Nakayasu, B. Webb-Robertson, Isabella H. Yang, J. Eder, Carrie Nicora, L. Bramer, Yuqian Gao, A. Fox, C. DeCarlo, Xiaoqi Yang, Mowei Zhou, R. Pace, Janet E. Williams, Mark A McGuire, M. McGuire, Thomas O. Metz, R. Powell
Related Content
Claims (5)
Getting the COVID vaccine barely changes the proteins in your blood, but actually catching the virus causes big shifts in those same proteins.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine while breastfeeding doesn’t really change the makeup of your milk — no big shifts in fats, nutrients, or proteins — so it probably doesn’t affect your milk much at all.
Different COVID-19 vaccines change the proteins in breast milk in different ways. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine causes the most changes, while Moderna and Pfizer cause fewer.
Getting COVID-19 while breastfeeding seems to change the makeup of breast milk—like its proteins, fats, and other chemicals—in a noticeable way.
After getting the COVID vaccine, moms who are breastfeeding don’t pass any of the vaccine ingredients into their breast milk.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.