Professor Louise Kenny:

There is considerable misinformation concerning the safety of medications in lactation, not only in Ireland but globally. This is an area that has not attracted much research or research funding. The innovative medicines initiative in Europe, which falls under Horizon 2020, is looking at addressing this very shortly with a large public private partnership which will establish a defined register or similar to examine the safety of commonly prescribed drugs in pregnancy and during lactation. That said, everything we know about the commonly prescribed anti-depressants that would be given to women in the post-natal period shows they are safe in breastfeeding. There is a great deal of misinformation about this and a gap in the education of women who are breastfeeding. They should be given much more reassurance than is currently available, not only about anti-depressants but also about other common medications that may be clinically indicated post-natally but are either not prescribed or not taken owing to unfounded fears about the effect they would have on the quality of breast milk.