Too often in the past women were told, wrongly that they had to stop breastfeeding because of a medication they were taking. When doctors make a decision regarding certain medications to be given to...

Too often in the past women were told, wrongly that they had to stop breastfeeding because of a medication they were taking. When doctors make a decision regarding certain medications to be given to a breastfeeding mom and the potential benefit to her and to her baby for stopping breastfeeding while being given a certain medication, must be weighed carefully against the benefits of breastfeeding that they will be missing. The mom who is asked to stop breastfeeding because of a medication being prescribed may lose her ability to resume breastfeeding after the course of the medication because it takes only approximately a week for a baby to get used to alternative ways of feeding (bottle cup) during those 7 days and the baby may never go back to breastfeeding after this time period.

It is important for the breastfeeding mom to be sure that the individual telling her she must stop breastfeeding due to a medication understands the implications of her stopping versus the benefit of the medication. There are many medications that can be substituted for others so that if one medication is harmful to the nursing baby, another one can be used instead that is just as beneficial to the mom and will allow her to continue breastfeeding. There are risks of not breastfeeding, for both the mom and baby, which must also be considered when deciding about what medication to use in a treatment plan for a woman who is breastfeeding. The question asked should not just be what is the benefit or risk of using a certain medication versus not breastfeeding in regards to the baby being able to nurse or the potential for harm in the breast milk to the baby but it should also be asked if it is more hazardous to substitute formula feeding instead of breast feeding. Typically the answer is that a little bit of drug in the breast milk is less harmful than switching the baby to formula and denying the baby and mom the multiple benefits of breastfeeding.

Typically, most medications will cross to the breast milk but only in small amounts. A few drugs will cause problems for breastfeeding infants even when only a small amount of drugs cross over into the breast milk, but this is not the case for the majority of the cases in which moms have been told to stop breastfeeding. Nursing moms should be aware that when they are told to stop breastfeeding with the reason being for medication, they should ask the prescribing doctor to double check their sources to be sure the information they are getting is reliable. They can also ask the prescribing doctor if there is another alternative medication that can be prescribed that is safe to breastfeed while taking. If the doctor is not willing to double check or prescribe an alternative medication the nursing mom can always ask for a second opinion or go to a doctor whom she knows is pro-breastfeeding and she feels is more likely to make the effort to double check resources or make alternative medication choices in favor of her continuing to breastfeed.

Typically the “rule of thumb”, is that a drug is safe to take while breastfeeding if the drug can also be taken while pregnant or be given to children, or if it is readily absorbed in the stomach or intestines.

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