Royal jelly whilst breastfeeding

[Meg1]

After 4 miscarriages I started taking Royal Jelly and successfully conceived my daughter. She is 14 months now and I am still nursing her. We have cut down to 2 nursing sessions during the day for her naps and a couple times through the night to help her sleep.
We want to start trying for another baby and I wanted to know if 1000mg of Royal Jelly a day (in a capsule) is safe whilst breastfeeding.

[kaytlin]

Hi Meg1,

I'm afraid I can't be of much help. As we don't have a good understanding of what is even in Royal Jelly, I can't make a solid recommendation of what is safe. Royal Jelly does seem to have some hormonal effects, although I have not heard of it being used for fertility. I would consider the risk of unknown hormonal effects getting passed on to a daughter. Although the risk might be low with the volume of milk she is getting, the benefit of continuing to breastfeed at that point is questionable in comparison.

Also, herbal products are not regulated by the FDA and there can be significant variations in the potency and purity between different products or even between different lots of the same product. Herbs can also interact with each other and with prescription medications, so we tend to advise not taking them at all.

All the best,
Kaytin Krutsch, PharmD