If you are currently breastfeeding
This is not a substitute for direct care by YOUR doctor. Confirm with your doctor before doing any of the following.
- Surgery is safe with breastfeeding: When you are awake, this means that the anesthesia drugs have metabolized out of the blood system as well as the breastmilk
- Because pain interferes with successful breastfeeding, you should avoid severe pain and take medication as needed.
- Use multiple types of medications (such as Tylenol and Motrin) to reduce the amount of narcotics that you need for good pain control. If non-narcotic pain medications are inadequate – then take narcotics in combination with the non-narcotic medications.
- You should resume breastfeeding as soon as possible after surgery because anesthetic drugs appear in such low levels in breastmilk. It is not recommended that you “pump and dump.”
- Narcotics may transfer into the breastmilk however it is in very low levels and is generally safe for the baby. The amount of narcotics that you receive after a laparoscopic surgery is very low. It is safe to feed the baby directly or via pumped milk.
- There is also no need to pump/dump after CT scans, MRIs, or Ultrasounds. It is fine to feed the baby or pump immediately afterward your imaging is done (this includes imaging done with contrast to include gadolinium).
- Many, but not all, antibiotics are okay to give while breastfeeding. Ask your doctor about any antibiotic that you are receiving. It is okay to ask if there is an alternative that is okay with breastfeeding. There may not be depending on the type of bacteria that is being treated, but most of the time there is an option.
- LactMed is the BEST resource for what medications are safe for breastfeeding parents: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501922/
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Obstetric Practice. Committee Opinion No. 656 Summary: Guidelines for Diagnostic Imaging During Pregnancy and Lactation. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Feb;127(2):418. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001309. PMID: 26942384.
Flanagan E, Bell S. Abdominal Imaging in pregnancy (maternal and foetal risks). Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2020 Feb-Apr;44-45:101664. doi: 10.1016/j.bpg.2019.101664. Epub 2019 Dec 27. PMID: 32359678.
Matthews K, Reilly J. Perioperative care of the breastfeeding patient. Br J Hosp Med (Lond). 2022 Oct 2;83(10):1-2. doi: 10.12968/hmed.2022.0357. Epub 2022 Oct 6. PMID: 36322447.
Montgomery A, Hale TW; Academy Of Breastfeeding Medicine. ABM clinical protocol #15: analgesia and anesthesia for the breastfeeding mother, revised 2012. Breastfeed Med. 2012 Dec;7(6):547-53. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2012.9977. PMID: 23215911.
