I'm getting sedated during a medical procedure, when can I nurse?

I am having a procedure done in Jan. They will be sedating me for this with I believe demerol. I am going to pump to get a supply of milk for my baby for that day and hopefully the next. As far as those two days should I just pump & dump or will it be ok for her to nurse. I really need some help with this so I can start pumping now.






I am a Lactation Consultant in WV that is answering your questions about Demerol. The best place to get a personal answer is to have your doctor call the Lactation Study Center at 716-275-0088 in Rochester NY. It is a drug line for physicians with questions about drugs and breastfeeding. Because your baby will be 8 months old, and assuming you will not get a large dosage of demerol, you may be able to nurse within a certain time frame. Are you sure that is what you will be given? Most surgeries use other sedatives. Is this for teeth?

The reference, Medications and Mother's Milk by Thomas Hale, PhD (a pharmacist) states that the AAP has not reviewed demerol for use in nursing moms. The medication can build up in your system and has a fairly long half life. The exact dosage and use profile would have to be known to make an educated recommendation. Sometimes demerol is used after C sec and it was shown to affect the infants but they are tiny and your baby is older. The book recommends the alternative drugs of morphine, Fentanyl, hydrocodone. Those were considered safer than demerol.

I hope this has helped. I think the Lactation Study Center can give you more specific recommendations. If you want to you can give me more information about your procedure and I suggest you talk to the anesthetist about choosing other medications. Feel free to email me back. I think there are medications for sedation that wear off more quickly and allow nursing within 4 or 5 hours after surgery.

Good luck!

Elaine Matheny, BS, IBCLC, LLL Leader





 

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