Smoking, Silicone Implants Shouldn't Stop Breastfeeding
WebMD News Archive
Sept. 4, 2001 -- Breastfeeding moms are often warned, "the baby is eating what you are eating and drinking."
However, measuring the exact amount of drugs and other chemicals that pass from mothers to breastfeeding babies is not an exact science, so the American Academy of Pediatrics is issuing some new guidelines in this month's issue of Pediatrics about breastfeeding and smoking, silicone implants, and drugs like antidepressants.
Robert M. Ward, MD, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah who led the research committee that wrote the new guidelines, tells WebMD that the pediatricians reviewed all published literature and put together a statement to provide needed information for both mothers and their doctors.
But he points out that the new guidelines differ from earlier statements from pediatricians in that the group is no longer laying down hard and fast rules about what is and isn't acceptable for nursing mothers.
"We're not using terms like 'contraindicated,'" he says. Instead the pediatricians are setting out the facts, making some recommendations, and leaving the decisions up to a woman and her doctor.
A good example of the new approach is the section on smoking. Cheston M. Berlin, MD, a Pennsylvania State University pediatrician who is also an expert in pharmacology, tells WebMD that the pediatricians' group thinks that breastfeeding could serve as "an excellent incentive to stop smoking," but in the real world some mothers just cannot break the nicotine habit. For mothers who can't stop smoking, it turns out that it is probably healthier for the baby if the mother continues breastfeeding even if she smokes than it is to switch the baby to formula.
Formula-fed babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke have a slightly higher risk for respiratory infections and ear infections than do babies who are nursed by a smoking mother. This appears to be true despite the fact that breast milk from a smoker does contain some nicotine.
When it comes to drugs like Prozac or Zoloft, the picture is not quite so clear. Small amounts of these drugs can be found in breast milk, but in very low concentrations. Babies, too, have been shown to have small amounts of the drugs in their blood after breastfeeding. But Berlin tells WebMD that it isn't clear what effect, if any, the drugs may have on the baby.