|
Aspirin and pregnancy
Aspirin and brest feeding
References
Aspirin and pregnancy
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the following warning
about aspirin use during pregnancy: "It is especially important not to use
aspirin during the last three months of pregnancy, unless specifically
directed to do so by a physician because it may cause problems in the unborn
child or complications during delivery."
Aspirin is listed on the California Environmental Protection Agency
(CAL/EPA) Proposition 65 list of developmental toxicants (CAL/EPA
Proposition 65 List). A developmental toxicant is a substance that a
group of expert scientists has determined can harm unborn children. The FDA
warning is included in the CAL/EPA listing.
Aspirin and breast feeding
Aspirin is transferred to breast milk and it is estimated that a nursing
baby receives about 4-8% of the mother’s dose (WHO 1988). Continued exposure
to small doses of aspirin may be harmful to babies because aspirin tends to
build up in their bodies (Findlay et al. 1981). In some countries, nursing
women are advised against aspirin use because of the possible development of
Reye’s Syndrome in their babies (WHO 1988). Reye’s Syndrome is a rare
condition that affects the brain and liver and is most often observed in
children given aspirin during a viral illness (National
Reye's Syndrome Foundation). Because sufficient information is not
available to accurately determine the extent of aspirin accumulation in
babies and the resulting health outcomes, the World Health Organization
(WHO) Working Group on Human Lactation considers aspirin intake by nursing
mothers as unsafe (WHO 1988).
The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs (AAP
2001) listed aspirin as a drug that has been "associated with
significant effects on some nursing infants and should be given to nursing
mothers with caution." The report suggested that safer drugs such as
acetaminophen should be used for pain relief during pregnancy.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. 2001. The Transfer of Drugs and Other
Chemicals Into Human Milk Committee on Drugs. Pediatrics 108(3): 776-789.
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics%3b108/3/776
Findlay JWA, DeAngelis RL, Kearney MF, Welch RM, Findlay JM: Analgesic
drugs breast milk and plasma. Clin Pharmacol Ther 29:625-33, 1981.
Iannucci L. The Perplexities of Pregnancy. FDA.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00033.html.
The WHO Working Group, Bennet PN (ed): Drugs and Human Lactation.
Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, Oxford, 1988. pp. 325-6.
|
