MEDICATIONS AND BREAST FEEDING: A GUIDE FOR PHARMACISTS, PHARMACY TECHNICIANS, AND OTHER HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS— PART I
Frank J Nice, Deborah DeEugenio, Traci A DiMino, Ingrid C Freeny,
Marissa B Rovnack, and Joseph S Gromelski

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OBJECTIVE: To provide a guide for practicing pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other healthcare professionals so that they are able to counsel and advise breast-feeding mothers and fellow healthcare professionals on the safety and use of common ambulatory care, analgesic, and anesthetic medications during breast feeding.

DATA SOURCES: Primary texts used by the breast-feeding community were searched, as well as Micromedex, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, and Embase2 (1984–July 2003).

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Multiple sources were utilized whenever available to validate the data, and primary articles were used to verify all tertiary source information. Search terms included breast feeding, lactation, nursing, and medications, as well as specific drug names.

DATA SYNTHESIS: Concerns regarding medication use during breast feeding have caused mothers to either discontinue nursing or not take necessary medications. Complete avoidance of medications or cessation of breast feeding is often unnecessary. Although there are medications that can be harmful to nursing infants, breast milk concentrations of most drugs are insufficient to cause any harm.

CONCLUSIONS: Having objective and reliable information on medications enables pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, other healthcare providers, and mothers to make educated decisions regarding drug therapy and breast feeding.

J Pharm Technol 2004;20:17-27.

ACPE Universal Program Number: 407-000-04-050-H01

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