Ligutom, Leonard Cyren O.

June 27, 2019

BSN II- NCM 33 C4- Asst. Prof. Caluscusan

Postpartum women’s use of medicines and breastfeeding practices: a systematic review

Saha, M. R., Ryan, K., & Amir, L. H. (2015). Postpartum women's use of medicines and breastfeeding practices: a systematic
review. International breastfeeding journal, 10, 28. doi:10.1186/s13006-015-0053-6 Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625926/#CR7

This article talks about the medication and breastfeeding practices of women in postpartum
period. It conducted a systematic review on many original studies, journals, and articles from the
known databases regarding the medicine use in women after the birth.

During the postpartum period, many women experience health problems such as cough/colds,
infections, GIT problems, pain, depression and needs to take medication. As what I have read,
commonly used medicines are safe during lactation and its adverse effects are minimal only. It is
also reported that one of the reasons for discontinuation of breastfeeding is the need to take the
medicine. The issue here is that it lacks evidenced-based knowledge regarding the safety of taking
medicines in lactation. The objectives of this article are to systematically review the works about
the extent of medicine use of postpartum women and evaluate if there is a negative impact of
medicine use on breastfeeding. The results found out relevant information and statistics on the
medicine use, common medicines used, impacts on breastfeeding outcomes, women’s behavior,
decision, and concerns about the use of medicines while breastfeeding. As I go on reading about
this article, the critical findings suggest that the use of medicine in postpartum women is very
common, but it is not comparable in different countries. Some articles and studies were limited by
lack of breastfeeding information.

In conclusion, the maternal use of medicines for certain chronic diseases such as epilepsy,
showed a negative impact on initiation/ duration of breastfeeding. Further study is needed
regarding women’s behavior of discontinuing breastfeeding under medication and due to lack of
breastfeeding information. In the rest of the studies, analgesics/antipyretics, nonsteroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antibacterial/antibiotics were the most commonly used
medicines if vitamins, minerals, or iron preparations were not considered. Regarding the impact
on breastfeeding outcomes, studies concluded that women were most likely to stop breastfeeding.
The behavior of many women is that they hesitate to combine medicine use with breastfeeding.