If a healthcare professional tells you to stop breastfeeding to take a medication….
I’m going to prescribe drug x but I’m afraid it means you need to stop breastfeeding. Does this sound familiar. It seems to come up frequently on social media platforms but is it true? In 2008 I was part of the guideline development group for maternal and infant nutrition PH11 https://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/PH11. It includes a recommendation […]
Ivabradine and Breastfeeding
Recently there have been several questions on the use of Ivabradine in breastfeeding mothers with Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS ) and I confess I know little about this condition so am simply compiling the information from other sources. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/postural-tachycardia-syndrome/ “Ivabradine is a hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel blocker indicated to reduce the risk of hospitalization for […]
Tattoo and Breastfeeding
A tattoo involves injecting an ink into the dermis of the skin. Worldwide 10-20% of the population is tattooed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34605159/) but there is little research on the effects of the inks. The most common reactions are allergies particularly to red ink and infections (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34969030/). Most of the ink stays fixed in the area to which […]
Cannabis and Breastfeeding
Cannabis use on a regular basis by breastfeeding mothers concerns me. Cannabis has a long half life (25-57 hours) and it takes 5 times this to be removed from milk. THC crosses the blood brain barrier and it is known to accumulate in body fats. Although it is highly protein bound and subject to first […]