Breastfeeding recommendations for women taking anti-seizure medications

Abrar O Al-Faraj; Trudy D Pang

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108769

Breastfeeding recommendations for women taking anti-seizure medications

Epilepsy Behav. 2022 Nov:136:108769. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108769. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Authors

Abrar O Al-Faraj¹, Trudy D Pang²

Affiliations

¹ Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, United States. Electronic address: alfaraj@bu.edu.
² Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, United States. Electronic address: tpang@bidmc.harvard.edu.

PMID: 35690572
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108769

Abstract

The literature regarding breastfeeding and effects of anti-seizure medication (ASM) exposure on the breastfed infant has been evolving rapidly over the last decade as new studies advance our understanding of the extent of medication exposure via breastfeeding and the long-term developmental outcomes of breastfed infants. Currently, strong evidence supports the safety of breastfeeding for women with epilepsy (WWE) taking most prescribed ASMs. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of the data regarding ASM exposure in breastfed infants and neurodevelopmental outcomes in breastfed infants of mothers taking various ASMs. In addition, we present current breastfeeding recommendations and the reported adverse effects of various ASMs to facilitate decision making in the clinical care of WWE.

Keywords: Anti-seizure medications; Breastfeeding; Counseling; Drug exposure; Neurodevelopment; Women with epilepsy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Breast Feeding*
Epilepsy* / drug therapy
Female
Humans
Infant
Mothers