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Breastfeeding Baby

Breastfeeding Baby

Is it ever safe to drink alcohol while breastfeeding?

What are the risks to the baby if the mother uses marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding?

If a woman continues to take an antidepressant during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, how will it affect her baby?

Health care providers can find the answers to these and other questions in a newly released book titled, Exposure to Psychotropic Medications and Other Substances during Pregnancy and Lactation—A Handbook for Health Care Providers.

Published by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in cooperation with the MotherRisk Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, this handbook provides practitioners with evidence-based facts and recommendations on the use of medications, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

According to Betty Dondertman, project lead, “We know that 25 percent of Canadians smoke, 5 percent drink alcohol daily, and 10 percent have symptoms consistent with alcohol or illegal drug dependence. In addition, 10 to 15 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 44 experience depression. Given these figures, it is likely that many of the 400,000 Canadian women who give birth each year have used drugs or alcohol before they knew they were pregnant, or are taking antidepressants when they get pregnant.”

Section one of the handbook addresses common myths and facts that dispel those myths, including the myth that a breastfeeding mother should never drink alcohol. The authors point out that alcohol enters the mother’s milk in levels similar to her blood, but infants metabolize alcohol at half the rate of adults. So the recommendation is that breastfeeding mothers plan ahead and pump their milk for later use before occasions when they expect to consume alcohol such as social events. There is also a table for determining the amount of time it takes for a mother’s milk to be free of alcohol after she has had one or more drinks.

The handbook is organized alphabetically by drug or drug category and each section includes detailed information on fetal, neonatal, and long-term effects as well as a summary and recommendations.

This handbook was written as a companion to Is It Safe For My Baby? Risks and Recommendations for the Use of Medication, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding, a handbook specifically for parents.

Health professionals who care for pregnant or breastfeeding women or their children will find Exposure to Psychotropic Medications and Other Substances during Pregnancy and Lactation—A Handbook for Health Care Providers a great resource, one that contains practical advice as well as evidence-based data.

Located in Ontario, Canada, CAMH is the largest addiction and mental health organization in North America, providing clinical care services, health promotion, education, and research.

MotherRisk, founded in 1985, serves as a resource for information on the safety or risk of drugs, chemicals, diseases, radiation, and environmental agents to unborn babies and breastfeeding children.