If you've ever nursed a baby, you know that doctors know squat about drugs and breastfeeding. In fact, they'll usually just tell you what the drug manufacturers say, which is "don't take this drug while breastfeeding."
Ladies and gentlemen, this statement is called c.y.a. It gives us no useful information about how much of the drug tranfers into the breastmilk, what theoretical dose the infant consumes, or what the drug actually DOES to the infant, if anything.
Enter the world's foremost expert on medications and mothers' milk, Dr. Thomas Hale, whose book is entitled, oddly,
Medication and Mothers' MilkThis is where you get the info on the drug, how it passes into breastmilk and in what quantities, how it could affect your baby, and importantly, what the half-life of the drug is. He's done the research nobody else has done on this subject.
Half-life information helps you nurse around the drug, if need be. It helps you know when the drug is at its peak levels in your bloodstream (and breastmilk) and when it's no longer in your system. This is the information I use to monitor and limit the amount of Adderall in my baby's body.
And oddly enough, even though the pharmaceutical companies give doctors absolutely no information other than their c.y.a. blanket statement, even though the medical journals and the P.D.R. have no useful information, you know what the doctor will tell you when you show them the Hale? He'll say, "let me look at my own stuff." Yep, that's going to be helpful to you.
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