Is vitamin E safe while breastfeeding?

What NIH says about vitamin E while nursing

NIH raises the vitamin E amount for breastfeeding women above the amount for other adults, and it keeps the same upper limit as in pregnancy. It describes no breastfeeding-specific harm, and it presents the upper limit as a ceiling for supplements, since vitamin E that is naturally in food has not been found to cause harm.^1,2

Breastfeeding teens and women need 19 mg of vitamin E a day.^1,2

The upper limit for vitamin E from supplements is 1,000 mg a day for adults, the same as 1,500 IU of the natural form or 1,100 IU of the synthetic form, and it is set because of the risk of bleeding. It is lower for children and teens: 200 mg at ages 1 to 3, 300 mg at 4 to 8, 600 mg at 9 to 13 and 800 mg at 14 to 18. Vitamin E in food does not need to be limited.^1,2

Vitamin E that is naturally present in food and drinks has not been found to cause harm and does not need to be limited.^1,2

What trials show about vitamin E and breast milk

One randomized trial gave 800 IU a day of RRR-alpha-tocopherol to breastfeeding women in Brazil, 79 in all, between 30 and 90 days after delivery. Alpha-tocopherol rose in milk and blood. The researchers said the size of the rise depended on the milk level the mother started with and on her diet.³

The trial measured vitamin levels. Its abstract does not report side effects in mothers or babies, so it cannot answer a safety question, and 800 IU is a much larger amount than the 13.5 mg of vitamin E that most once-daily multivitamins hold.^1,3

Why is there an upper limit at all?

The limit exists because high doses of vitamin E supplements might increase the risk of bleeding, by reducing the blood's ability to clot after a cut or injury, and of serious bleeding in the brain. That risk is described for adults generally, and the sources checked do not describe it in nursing mothers or infants.^1,2

High doses of vitamin E supplements might increase the risk of bleeding, by reducing the blood's ability to clot after a cut or injury, and of serious bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke).^1,2

Who should ask a doctor about vitamin E while breastfeeding

• Breastfeeding women thinking about more vitamin E than a multivitamin holds, who should ask their doctor or pharmacist first.^1,2
• Women who take a blood thinner or an antiplatelet medicine, or who had heavy bleeding after delivery.¹
• Women using vitamin E oil or serum on the skin, who should ask a pharmacist, because the sources checked do not address topical products in nursing.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin E: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated March 26, 2021. Opened 2026-10-07.
2. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin E: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated March 22, 2021. Opened 2026-10-07.
3. de Sousa Rebouças A, Costa Lemos da Silva AG, Freitas de Oliveira A, Thalia Pereira da Silva L, de Freitas Felgueiras V, Cruz MS, et al. Factors Associated with Increased Alpha-Tocopherol Content in Milk in Response to Maternal Supplementation with 800 IU of Vitamin E. Nutrients. 2019;11(4). A randomized clinical trial in 79 lactating women. Opened 2026-10-11.
4. Warshaw EM, Ruggiero JL, DeKoven JG, et al. Patch Testing With Tocopherol and Tocopherol Acetate: The North American Contact Dermatitis Group Experience, 2001 to 2016. Dermatitis. 2021;32(5):308-318. Opened 2026-10-07.