Most drugs are safe to use during breastfeeding, says report

Only a small proportion of medications need to be avoided by breastfeeding mothers, an American Academy of Pediatrics committee has concluded in a report.

“Many mothers are inappropriately advised to discontinue breastfeeding or avoid taking essential medications because of fears of adverse effects on their infants,” the academy’s Committee on Drugs said in the report, which was published online in the journal Pediatrics on 26 August.1

The lead author is Hari Cheryl Sachs, lead medical officer for the pediatric and maternal health staff at the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for …