World Breastfeeding Week | Master the six principles to avoid medication pitfalls during lactation

Breast milk is the most ideal food for babies.

It is the best gift to meet the baby's physiological and psychological development.

However, mothers consume more energy during childbirth.

Taking care of the baby often lacks sleep and other reasons,

This leads to decreased resistance and makes people very susceptible to illness.

When the body shows red lights, many mothers dare not take medicine.

Because I am worried that breastfeeding after taking the medicine will affect the baby.

How to take medication safely during breastfeeding?

Let's listen to the pharmacist's explanation -

How do drugs get into my baby's body?

After mothers take oral medication, it is usually absorbed into the blood through the small intestine.

Then it enters the breast milk from the blood system.

The drug enters the baby through breast milk.

It is first absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract and finally enters the blood.

After going through so many stages,

There is drug "loss" in every link.

Therefore, the amount of medicine that actually enters the baby's body is very small.

but,

Some drugs, even in small amounts,

It can also cause serious harm to your baby.

How to prevent mothers from accidentally taking high-risk drugs?

Thomas W. Hale, Professor of Pediatrics, USA,

A risk classification system for drugs during lactation is proposed.

Widely accepted worldwide.

It is generally believed that

L1 and L2 drugs do not affect breastfeeding.

L3 drugs must be used under the guidance of clinicians.

L4 and L5 levels are prohibited during breastfeeding.

If medication is necessary, breastfeeding should be stopped.

How to avoid taking medication during breastfeeding?

How can breastfeeding mothers use medicine to ensure safety and rationality? This requires mastering the following six principles:

1. Weigh the pros and cons and do not use medication blindly. When taking medication during lactation, you need to weigh the pros and cons. If the condition really requires medication, you should strictly follow the medication indications and use it under the guidance of a doctor and pharmacist. Do not take medication on your own. It is not recommended to use medications with uncertain efficacy, and some Chinese patent medicines are not recommended for use due to the lack of safety studies during lactation.

Second, take the baby's condition into full consideration. Breastfeeding mothers of premature babies and weak babies need to be particularly cautious when using medications. At this time, they need to consult pediatricians and pharmacists about the use of medications.

3. Pay attention to the drug ingredients. When taking medication during breastfeeding, try to choose a single ingredient and avoid compound preparations. Single ingredients are often easier to obtain drug safety assessments, while compound preparations have more ingredients and the impact on breastfeeding becomes complicated, so they are not recommended for use during breastfeeding. For example, compound acetaminophen may contain caffeine and aspirin, and these two ingredients are not recommended for use during breastfeeding; but acetaminophen is a drug that can be used safely during breastfeeding.

4. Choose the drug dosage form reasonably. Most topical dosage forms are safe to use during lactation. Under the premise of not affecting the efficacy, you should try to choose dosage forms that have little effect on breast milk, such as: if you can choose topical, don't choose oral, if you can choose oral, don't choose intravenous medication.

5. Reasonable medication time. To further reduce possible adverse drug reactions, mothers can choose to avoid breastfeeding when the blood drug concentration is high. It is recommended to take the medicine after a breastfeeding or after the baby enters a long sleep at night, and appropriately delay the next breastfeeding time.

6. Breastfeeding should be done with caution in special circumstances. If the mother is infected with HIV or has a serious disease such as chronic nephritis, diabetes, malignant tumors, mental illness, epilepsy or heart failure, breastfeeding should be stopped; if the mother has certain acute infectious diseases, she should be isolated from the baby and the breast milk can be squeezed out and sterilized before feeding; if the mother is a carrier of hepatitis B virus or is infected with tuberculosis but has no clinical symptoms, breastfeeding will not be affected and can continue.

The use of any drug carries certain risks, and the purpose of taking the drug is to treat the disease.

When taking medication during lactation, you should try to use L1 and L2 level drugs, and pay attention to the above six principles.

Breastfeeding is only the first step in a long journey. While taking good care of the baby, the mother must first take care of her own body.

I wish every mother gets sick less and uses less medicine!

Author: Li Liqi, pharmacist at Wuhan Wuchang Hospital

Review expert: Han Chaohong, deputy chief pharmacist of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University

Wei Guoyi, Chief Pharmacist, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University