Antibiotics and Breastfeeding

28th July 2007

posted in Post Partum, Pregnancy |

Needs for antibiotics may make it so you should not breastfeed your baby, regardless of whether or not you had planned to. If the benefits of antibiotics out-weigh the cons, then obviously you need to do what you need to do. However, if you minimize the risk of you needing antibiotics in the first place, that would be optimal, for you and your baby.

This abstract from Green Journal titled “Use of Intrapartum Antibiotics and the Incidence of Postnatal Maternal and Neonatal Yeast Infections” says:

Neonatal thrush and maternal breast candidiasis are common early postnatal complications. The higher rates of thrush and breast candidiasis in antibiotic-exposed mother–infant pairs merits further study.

Another called “Antibiotic Use in Pregnancy and Lactation” points out:

…there is the concern of possible teratogenic and toxic effects on the developing fetus and newborn.

and encourages it health care providers to:

consider the teratogenic and toxic risk profiles of antibiotics to assist in making prescribing decisions for pregnant and lactating women.

However, this article, which reviews 11 broad spectrum antibiotics, does go on to say that most of the antibiotics reviewed are considered “compatible with breastfeeding.” I would say the uncertainty is still there though because what you take into your body, your baby also gets some of. Why risk it if you can take care of the problem a safer way?

During pregnancy and while breast feeding, I like to remedy anything that may come up as naturally as possible. I have had to take an antibiotic for a UTI (urinary tract infection) before because it was bad enough that I couldn’t remedy it naturally (I had never had one before and didn’t recognize the signs soon enough). The more natural way, which proves very effective for me now because I know the signs and signals of a UTI, would be something like cranberry juice (or capsules if you don’t like the juice) and/or uva-ursi. My favorite cranberry juice (although I don’t really like cranberry juice) is the Lakewood Organic Pure Concentrate because a lot goes a long way and since it’s unsweetened, it tends to works better. Amazon has it in six packs. Other unsweetened brands may work just as well.

Uva-ursi is an herb, and some herbs are very beneficial for pregnant and lactating women while others are not. So be sure to discuss it with a knowledgeble care provider before taking anything you are uncertain about in any way.

For after childbirth, I like to put 10 drops of tea tree oil in my peri-bottle. That way my area is cleaned every time I use it, and I’m not ingesting anything that might affect my baby’s milk.

A good guide for more natural remedies is: Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year. This book is great for homeopathic and natural remedies.

Sheilah

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There are currently 4 responses to “Antibiotics and Breastfeeding”

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1 On August 6th, 2007, Kendra said:
Hmmm, very interesting (especially since I am currently breastfeeding and think I have a sinus infection) When I was pregnant my whole family came down with a virus. They all went to the doctor to get antibiotics but I decided I would fight it on my own. I just didn’t want to introduce antibiotics into my growing baby’s system. I had no facts to back up my thinking, however.

posted on August 6th, 2007 at 11:36 am
2 On August 9th, 2007, Sheilah said:
Oh gosh, I hope it’s better now, if not, try massaging your sinuses (it increases blood flow to the area which in turn helps, and it also “loosens” them up allowing them to drain) and don’t let it persist too long. I’ve “flushed” with a brine mixture of mineral salt and water, but that’s a last resort for me since I can’t stand it well. Leaning over a steaming bowl with the same brine mixture has also proved helpful, but time consuming. Other than that, all I can recommend off the top of my head is Honey Loquat, like if you are coughing from it (Amazon has the same syrup so you can see what the jar looks like). I made a tea with it when I had a cold while pregnant with my first baby. It soothed a lot and the ingredients are natural and safe (so long as you don’t have allergies to them or aren’t taking any medications that might be affected by them). Good luck and feel better soon.

posted on August 9th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
3 On November 5th, 2008, Krys said:
I really like the idea of not ingesting things that could be passed on to baby,
what are your thoughts about treating mastitis? Certainly there are ways to prevent this condition (and continued nursing helps) but wouldn’t a sudden and intense onset warrent a need for antibiotics.
So what are your thoughts about times when nursing and need for antibiotic treatment go hand in hand?

posted on November 5th, 2008 at 5:16 am
4 On November 19th, 2008, Sheilah said:
Hello Krys,
You pose and excellent question, and through my spotty Internet connection I’ve been having, I’ve discovered there are MANY articles in the medical journals about mastitis for me to wade through, so I’ve decided to dedicate a soon-to-be blog to the topic.
Now to answer your question: As usual, I do prefer the most natural, least adverse possible way of dealing with such a thing. I do remember getting mastitis once, with my first baby. Being a dairy farmers daughter, I knew the best thing for me to do was to keep it milked out, so as difficult as it was (and kind of painful too) I expressed and pumped the milk out each time my baby was nursing on the other side. Fortunately, I only had mastitis in one breast. It took about two or three days, but cleared up without antibiotics.
Now like I said, I’m a dairy farmers daughter, so I called my dad to ask him about his thoughts as well, because in all honesty, he has dealt with hundreds of cases of mastitis in his 40+ years of farming. Of course, he’s not a doctor (I remind you, for that matter, that I am not either), and cows are bovines, not women. However, we are both mammals who lactate for the purpose of feeding our young.
Dad felt that antibiotics were sometimes the only thing that could be done, but other times, he wasn’t sure if they made any difference. When a cow gets antibiotics for mastitis, it goes directly into that “teat” and her milk is separated out from the rest of the herd’s milk. Dad also mentioned that he noticed that feeding calves the mastitis milk tended to increase the likelihood that they would be more prone to mastitis when they grew up.
So, antibiotics of not, I would not recommend nursing from that breast if you can help it. If you have mastitis in both breasts, I guess it is your call. How bad it is may have something to do with it, I will let you know as soon as I have finished my research to see what I can come up with for you.
In the mean time, sure, sometimes there is a need for antibiotics. I had a need once when I was pregnant too. Like always, you have to weigh the pros and cons, learn as much as you can about your alternatives, and then make the decision that will work best for you and your baby.
I hope this has helped you, and I will be blogging about this. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before, so thank you for the idea.

posted on November 19th, 2008 at 1:05 am

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