Medications & Breastfeeding
Consult you healthcare provider before taking any medications while breastfeeding.
In general, a mother can take necessary medications without causing problems for her breastfeeding baby. Most medications don't give the baby a large enough dose to worry about. Sometimes a medication can be changed to a safer one or the timing of doses can be adjusted. Sometimes the baby's doctor can help decide if the baby is having side effects.
After nine months of pregnancy with so many restrictions on what is best for mother and baby, breastfeeding mothers often need information about what to do during breastfeeding. During pregnancy, medications, drugs, herbs, and more enter a mother's blood during digestion. As her blood passes into the placenta, what is in her blood can transfer to the baby's blood. With breastfeeding, things work differently. What enters a mother's blood must now pass through the breast to be transferred into the milk. As her own blood level of a drug decreases, for example, any drug that passed into the milk will now pass back into the blood. Most drugs enter into the milk in only small quantities. Even then it is another journey to pass into the baby's blood.
Simply put, a breastfeeding mother has far fewer concerns about what medications she can take than a pregnant woman. The risk of medication passing into her milk is the highest in the first four days of life and during weaning. Contact your healthcare team to help you understand how to use your medications during breastfeeding. It is usually safer to take your medications than to stop breastfeeding. Some conditions can wait for treatment until after you have weaned.
If you have specific questions, healthcare providers can visit our provider Medications & Breastfeeding page. You may contact your hospital's breastfeeding Warm Line.
In general, a mother can take necessary medications without causing problems for her breastfeeding baby. Most medications don't give the baby a large enough dose to worry about. Sometimes a medication can be changed to a safer one or the timing of doses can be adjusted. Sometimes the baby's doctor can help decide if the baby is having side effects.
After nine months of pregnancy with so many restrictions on what is best for mother and baby, breastfeeding mothers often need information about what to do during breastfeeding. During pregnancy, medications, drugs, herbs, and more enter a mother's blood during digestion. As her blood passes into the placenta, what is in her blood can transfer to the baby's blood. With breastfeeding, things work differently. What enters a mother's blood must now pass through the breast to be transferred into the milk. As her own blood level of a drug decreases, for example, any drug that passed into the milk will now pass back into the blood. Most drugs enter into the milk in only small quantities. Even then it is another journey to pass into the baby's blood.
Simply put, a breastfeeding mother has far fewer concerns about what medications she can take than a pregnant woman. The risk of medication passing into her milk is the highest in the first four days of life and during weaning. Contact your healthcare team to help you understand how to use your medications during breastfeeding. It is usually safer to take your medications than to stop breastfeeding. Some conditions can wait for treatment until after you have weaned.
If you have specific questions, healthcare providers can visit our provider Medications & Breastfeeding page. You may contact your hospital's breastfeeding Warm Line.
