Novice mothers, have they ever had the following experiences:
- Be told by your doctor that you must stop breastfeeding because you have to undergo a medical examination or take certain drugs? Was told that a certain treatment could not be carried out until the end of lactation?
In fact, most drugs do not affect the safety of lactation, only a few drugs will affect it, but they can usually be replaced by other safe drugs.
Should we stop breast milk?
Many clinicians arbitrarily ask their mothers to stop breastfeeding because they lack knowledge of this or are too worried about the adverse effects of drugs. Although most drugs can enter the mother’s milk through blood circulation, the content of drugs in the milk is very small, and most of them will not have adverse effects on the baby.
It is not only unwise but also unnecessary to stop breastfeeding because of taking certain drugs.
Lactating mothers can learn the correct knowledge about lactation and medication through the following ways:
- Download [Doctor Clove] App, consult on medication anytime and anywhere, and see relevant popular science articles; It is also a good idea to consult a pediatrician. Pediatricians usually have a better understanding of the effects of drugs on infants and whether certain drugs can be taken directly by infants. Pediatricians also have a better understanding of the health threats that certain drugs pose to children.
The following methods are not recommended to guide lactation medication:
- FDA’s drug classification for pregnant women (A, B, C, D, X) is not recommended to guide drug use during lactation, because the way drugs enter milk and placenta is completely different. Relying solely on the drug instructions of pharmaceutical manufacturers. In these instructions, almost all drugs are not recommended for pregnant and lactating women. Most manufacturers have not conducted tests on lactating women.
What should breast-feeding mothers pay attention to in drug treatment?
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Is it necessary to take medicine/treatment immediately? Or is it not so urgent, can we wait until the child is older and weaned?
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How old is the child now? Is it healthy? Premature infants, newborns and infants with health problems need to pay more attention to the possible side effects of drugs taken by their mothers. Healthy older infants can metabolize drugs faster and have less risk.
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How much milk does a child consume every day? If the child takes in less milk (for example, the secretion of breast milk is not sufficient in the first few days of birth, or the infant starts to add supplementary foods and the number of times of breast feeding is reduced), the amount of medicine taken from milk is correspondingly less.
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Is it safe to take a certain drug orally to infants? Usually, the amount of medicine taken from milk is much less than that taken directly orally.
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Does the drug taken affect milk secretion? Try not to take drugs that can affect milk secretion.
Do you really want to stop breast milk?
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Short-term weaning will affect breast milk secretion. Lack of baby sucking stimulation may reduce breast milk secretion.
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There is also a risk of short-term weaning, that is, children may no longer be willing to suck milk. Some children are prone to this kind of situation, but we don’t know which children will do this.
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Artificial feeding has some risks, such as allergy, easy illness, etc.
Responsible Editor: Zhang Jingyuan