Antidepressant drugs and breastfeeding
by
Bellantuono C, Migliarese G, Maggioni F, Imperadore G.
Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica,
Dipartimento di Medicina e Sanita Pubblica,
Universita, Verona.
Recenti Prog Med. 2007 Jan;98(1):29-42.

ABSTRACT

The post-partum period, as well as pregnancy, is associated with an increased risk of anxiety and/or affective disorders. Postnatal depression, frequently in co-morbidity with anxiety symptoms, is recognised as the most frequent form of maternal morbidity after delivery, with a prevalence rate estimated between 5% to 15%. Among antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs are considered the drugs of choice in the treatment of post-partum affective disorders, particularly in the major depression. It is, thus, crucial from a clinical standpoint to establish, in the newborn whose mother needs to be treated with an SSRI, the safety profile of these drugs during breastfeeding. The benefits of breastfeeding, on the other hand, both for the nursing mother and the infant, are in fact very well documented. Unfortunately, all antidepressant drugs, including SSRIs, cross into breast milk and the milk-to-plasma ratio, a measure proposed to establish the amount of drug transferred to maternal milk, does not seem to be a reliable parameter to predict the safety of these drugs. From the available literature, however, it seems that among SSRIs, paroxetina and sertralina offer the best safety profile, as these drugs has never been associated with unsafe reports in suckling infants. Despite these reassuring but preliminary data, more studies are needed to better assess the safety of the antidepressant drugs in the infants exposed during breastfeeding. As general rule, it is important to recommend if the mother wishes to breastfeed her infant while taking an antidepressant, that the baby should be closely monitored in order to detect, as soon as possible, any unwanted drug-related side effect.

Folate
Ginkgo
Reward
Valerian
Exercise
Cannabis
Hypericum
Herbal highs
St John's wort
Panax ginseng
Passion flower
Antidepressants
Herbal medicines
New antidepressants
Antidepressant metabolism
An individualised approach
Antidepressants: how fast?
Antidepressants: adverse effects

Refs
and further reading

HOME
HedWeb
Nootropics
cocaine.wiki
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
MDMA/Ecstasy
Superhapiness?
Utopian Surgery?
The Abolitionist Project
The Hedonistic Imperative
The Reproductive Revolution
Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family