title: Medication and breastfeeding.
abstract: It is well accepted that the best feeding method for infants is breastfeeding, due to its numerous biological and clinical effects on child and maternal health. The use of medication by the nursing mother and the physician's advice to stop nursing are the most common reasons for the cessation of breastfeeding. The physician plays an extremely delicate role and should be able to assess risks and benefits for both mother and child. The main factors that must be taken into account include pharmacokinetics, the duration of maternal therapy, the age of the infant and the general health of the infant. All physicians should have access to reliable and updated information on medication safety during breastfeeding (reference books, online medical literature). Few drugs have been demonstrated to be absolutely contraindicated during breastfeeding. Nevertheless clear, safe and reliable information is still lacking for most drugs and it would be desirable to improve the knowledge about mechanisms and consequences of infant exposure to drug present in milk.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Unit, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy. ale.veralda@alice.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varalda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coscia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Di Nicola
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sabatino
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rovelli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giuliani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soldi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perathoner
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertino
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007229:Infant Welfare; D007774:Lactation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D063046:Patient Medication Knowledge; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs