Drugs and Breastfeeding.
- Author:
Ai Rhan KIM
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords: Breastfeeding; Medications
- MeSH: Breast Feeding; Gastrointestinal Tract; Half-Life; Humans; Infant; Milk; Molecular Weight; Mothers; Protein Binding; Solubility
- From:Hanyang Medical Reviews 2010;30(1):41-48
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: Clinician must consider several factors when advising a breastfeeding mother on the compatibility of her medications to breastfeeding infants: the benefit the medication will give to the mother; the risk of discontinuation of breastfeeding to the baby, the risk of medication to the baby and the risk of medication to the maternal milk supply. In almost all situations, there are numerous medications that can be safely used for specific symtoms and should be carefully chosen with the breastfeeding mother in mind. The transfer of medication from the maternal serum into milk depends on the drug's oral availability, lipid solubility, molecular weight, protein binding and half life. One must remember when the mother uses medication, that medication needs to be absorbed into the bloodstream of the mother, be able to cross into milk, be orally available to the infant, absorbed by infant's GI tract, be able to get into the infant's bloodstream and be at an infant dose which is generally very small.
