Last week I wrote about needing to stop breastfeeding Irene due to a heavy-duty antibiotic I was prescribed. A couple commenters noted that most antibiotics are not counter-indicated for breastfeeding and that I should look into it. I did. The particular medication I am on and the duration for which I need to take it does pose a small, theoretical risk to Irene. Given that I had already stopped breastfeeding for two days before doing further research and that she seemed to be coping reasonably well I decided against resuming breastfeeding.
I would like to note, however, that many medications are safe to take while breastfeeding, even if they are not safe during pregnancy. Much more is able to pass from the mother’s blood through the placenta to the baby then is usually passed into breast milk. The baby then drinks the milk and is able to further process its contents through his own digestive system. Needing to wean your baby in order to treat most common infections is rare.
How can you find out if your medication is safe to take while breastfeeding? I’m glad you asked. Even if your doctor and pharmacist advise you stop breastfeeding, I urge you to check in with the following resources. Docs and pharmacists often get their information from the drug companies who mostly just want to cover their own asses. They can’t test their products on breastfeeding moms and babies, so they presume they are not safe.
- Motherisk run by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto is a fantastic resource for pregnant and breastfeeding women. In addition to the information about drugs and toxins posted on its website, Motherisk has hotlines staffed by actual people who can answer all and any questions you may have. It is amazing.
- LactMed is a searchable database of medications and their compatibility with breastfeeding hosted by the United States National Library of Medicine.
- Kellymom.com is also a fantastic resource for breastfeeding and parenting in general with a lot of information about specific medications.
2 replies on “Breastfeeding Safe With Most Meds”
The question I believe we must ask ourselves is this: what is more risky? Using substitutes for breastmilk while taking the medicine, or continue to breastfeed not knowing 100% that it’s safe for the baby? If the drug companies can’t test on pregnant women or on young mothers, where did those sites get that information from? I imagine they can’t test either..
The standard for safety at Motherisk is less than 10% of the medication passing into the breastmilk — they can test that. Most medication is far less than that even. These are very reputalbe sources that I cite, not some fringe alternative medicine websites. Obviously each case will be a judgement call for the parents, but even topical ointments will come with a warning to not use during breastfeeding without consulting with a doctor. And it’s extremely difficult to stop breastfeeding and then start again after finishing a course of medicine. It would be a shame for mothers to wean prematurely if their medication is perfectly safe.