Taking Medications While Breastfeeding
Parenting while you’re sick is rough.
Parenting AND having to be available for nursing or pumping is really terrible.
Obviously there is the physical part of feeling sick that is difficult. And when you’re breastfeeding it can be stressful to wonder about what medications you’re able to take! Some medications might not be safe for baby and some medications might have an affect on your milk supply. But overall… there are so many medications that are safe to take while breastfeeding. Hopefully this post will clear some things up!
“My doctor will know what is safe… right?”
Ugh, I wish! Unfortunately a lot of doctors aren’t up to date on how many medications relate to lactation, so they advise you to pump and dump, not take the medication, or unnecessarily prescribe you an alternative (unnecessarily).
If your doctor is unsure about a medication or tells you to pump and dump for an arbitrary amount of time, I would recommend that you ask them if they’ve looked up the medication in the Lactmed Database or if they’ve contacted the Infant Risk Center or if they have looked it up in the Infant Risk Center’s app.
Be Your Own Advocate
The resources I mentioned earlier, the Lactmed Database and the Infant Risk Center, aren’t just for providers. Anyone can access them! You can contact the Infant Risk Center at (806) 352-2519 from 8:00 an-3:00 pm CST, Monday-Friday for information on medication safety.
The Infant Risk Center also has an app for parents, MommyMeds. For just a few dollars per year, you can access information about 70,000 medications!! The app. gives information about both pregnancy and lactation and it is easy to navigate. In addition to giving general information about the medication, it gives each medication a safety rating, which we will explore next!
Lactation Risk Categories
The categories let us know which medications are safe for breastfeeding. L1 is the safest- sufficient data that show the medication is safe and L5 is the most hazardous- sufficient data that shows it is unsafe. Here is an article that explains the categories and other descriptions of each med in the book and on the app.
Dr. Hale started the Infant Risk Center and wrote the book “Medications and Mother’s Milk.” (Here is an interview he did with KellyMom from July 2023 that you might find helpful and interesting!)
Common Medications and Their Rating
Here are a few common medications used for cough, cold, pain and fever with their Lactation Risk Category rating:
Acetaminophen (Tylenol)- L1
Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)- L1
Saline Rinse (Simply Saline)- L1
Guaifenesin (Robitussin, Mucinex)- L2
Antibiotics are typically L1-2 but always confirm
Dextromethorphan (Delsym, Robitussin DM)- L3
Oxymetazoline (Afrin)- L3
Triamcinolone (Nasacort)- L3
** Be extremely cautious with Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)! It is classified L3 but may very likely decrease milk supply!
I hope that this information can give you some peace of mind if you are sick while breastfeeding. Remember, don’t assume that a certain medication is unsafe (or that it’s safe!) before checking in with a trusted source. The Infant Risk Center is the most trusted source- chances are, if you ask your IBCLC about a medication, we will point you there or to the app.
Feel better,
Jess