Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/_Usci1VDUaA

 

A large, multicenter study of  222 breastfeeding babies and their mother shows that insignificant amounts of most anti-seizure drugs pass from mom to babe through breast milk.  The one drug that did pass was lamotrigine marketed as Lamictal.

 

Nearly 50% of babies had undetectable levels of drug in their blood, and the remainder had insignificant quantities.  Lamictal did pass through more readily into breast milk than the others, and its concentration in the baby depended upon the mother’s dosing.

 

This study concludes that mothers, taking most drugs for their seizure disorders, can safely breastfeed.  As always, you should consult with your own doctors before proceeding.

 

Birnbaum AK, Meador KJ, Karanam A, et al. Antiepileptic Drug Exposure in Infants of Breastfeeding Mothers With Epilepsy. JAMA Neurol. Published online December 30, 2019. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.4443

 

#Breastfeeding #antiseizuredrugs #antiepileptics #lamotrigine #Lamictal