Sub-hub III · Maternal Health · 8 articles
Your body matters too.
What’s safe, what affects supply, and what the research actually says about medication transfer, hormonal contraception, maternal diet, stress, and infectious disease while breastfeeding. Sourced from LactMed, ACOG, ABM Protocols, and Hale’s Medications and Mothers’ Milk.
✓ Evidence stack: NIH LactMed · ACOG Committee Opinions · ABM Protocols #13, #15, #29 · Hale & Rowe, Medications and Mothers’ Milk · Reviewed by Maureen Kelly, RN
Most medications are compatible with breastfeeding — the dose your baby gets through milk is typically a tiny fraction of the maternal dose. But “compatible” still requires checking. This section teaches the LactMed lookup workflow, walks through the most common questions (pain meds, antidepressants, birth control), and addresses the maternal-side topics that get overlooked: stress and supply, nutrition myths, breastfeeding with chronic infections. The goal is to keep mothers on their meds and well-fed — because a depleted, unmedicated mother is the bigger risk to the dyad.
The 8 articles in this section
Phase 1 · Foundational
LactMed: how to check if a medication is safe
The free NIH database is the gold standard for medication-during-lactation answers. Step-by-step on how to look anything up — and what the entries mean.
Phase 2 · Coming soon
Birth control while breastfeeding: what’s safe for supply
Progestin-only methods, IUDs, combined hormones, LAM. ACOG’s 2018 guidance on timing, supply impact, and method selection.
Phase 2 · Coming soon
Pain medications: Tylenol, ibuprofen, opioids
Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are first-line. When opioids are needed, what’s lowest-risk and how long is too long.
Phase 2 · Coming soon
Stress, pain, and milk supply: how cortisol affects lactation
Cortisol blunts oxytocin. The mechanism, the evidence, and what to do when life is genuinely stressful.
Phase 2 · Coming soon
Maternal nutrition while breastfeeding
Calories, hydration, and the diet myths. What you actually need vs. what your aunt told you to eat (or avoid).
Phase 3 · Coming soon
How drugs get into breast milk: milk-to-plasma ratios
The pharmacology that explains why most drugs barely transfer — and the few that do disproportionately.
Phase 3 · Coming soon
Breastfeeding with HIV: WHO vs. high-income guidance
In high-income settings the recommendation is to formula-feed; WHO guidance for resource-limited settings is different — and why.
Phase 3 · Coming soon
Breastfeeding with hepatitis B or C
CDC and ABM guidance: with proper newborn vaccination, hepatitis B and C are not contraindications.
Reviewed by
Maureen Kelly, RN — 20+ years in L&D, postpartum, NICU, and women’s health.
Every article in this section is reviewed against current ABM Clinical Protocols, AAP and WHO guidelines, and primary research. Meet Maureen →