Alcohol, some drugs bad for breastfeeding

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Alcohol, some drugs bad for breastfeeding
BARCELONA, Spain, (UPI) -- Doctors in Spain caution breast milk may transmit some drugs and medicines to infants.

Researchers from several Spanish hospitals set about reviewing the substances possibly found in breast milk and what the effects might be on babies.

The recommendations for mothers, published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, is to totally avoid drug abuse -- such as cocaine and heroin -- while breastfeeding, because these substances can pass directly through to the newborn and no amount of alcohol is safe.

Amphetamines are to be avoided and the doctors say smoking should be given up or at least limited. The time between the last cigarette and the baby's feeding should be extended and nicotine patches employed.

Dr. Oscar Garcia Algar of Hospital del Mar in Barcelona said absorption of some substances -- such as caffeine -- vary greatly and should be limited.

However, opiates used as medicines -- morphine, meperidine and codeine -- are excreted into the milk in minimal amounts and are compatible with breastfeeding, as are benzodiazepines, as long as they are taken in controlled doses. These drugs are prescribed most frequently to women during pregnancy and after birth.
 
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