To provide a guide for practicing pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other healthcare professionals so that they are able to counsel and advise breast-feeding mothers and fellow healthcare professionals on the safety and use of common cardiology and general medications during breast-feeding.
Data Sources:
Primary texts used by the breast-feeding community (Medications and Mothers' Milk, Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation, Drugs and Human Lactation) were searched, as well as Micromedex, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, and EMBASE2 (1984–February 2004).
Study Selection/Data Extraction:
Multiple sources were used wherever available to validate the data, and primary articles were used to verify all tertiary source information. Search terms included breast-feeding, lactation, nursing, and medications, as well as specific drug names.
Data Synthesis:
Concerns regarding medication use during breast-feeding have caused mothers to either discontinue nursing or not take necessary medications. Complete avoidance of medications or cessation of breast-feeding is often unnecessary. Although there are drugs that can be harmful to nursing infants, breast milk concentrations of most drugs are insufficient to cause any harm.
Conclusions:
Having objective and reliable information on medications enables pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, healthcare providers, and mothers to make educated decisions regarding drug therapy and breast-feeding.
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