TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge, attitudes and practices of health professionals and women towards medication use in breastfeeding: A review
AU - Hussainy, Safeera
AU - Dermele, Narmin
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Many breastfeeding women require and regularly take medicines, especially those available over-the-counter, and
the safe use of these is dependent on the advice provided by health professionals such as general practitioners
and pharmacists. The primary aim of this review therefore, was to investigate the literature relating to health
professionalsa?? and womena??s knowledge, attitudes and practices towards medication use and safety in breastfeeding.
The limited literature that was uncovered identified that general practitioners and pharmacists have poor
knowledge, but positive attitudes, and variable practices that are mostly guided by personal experience. They tend
to make decisions about the use of a medicine whilst breastfeeding based on the potential a??riska?? that it poses to
the infant in terms of possible adverse reactions, rather than its a??compatibilitya?? with breast milk. The decisionmaking
process between health professionals and women is usually not a negotiated process, and women are
often asked to stop breastfeeding whilst taking a medicine. Women, in turn, are left dissatisfied with the advice
received, many choosing not to initiate therapy or not to continue breastfeeding. Some directions for future
research have been suggested to address the issues identified in this critical area. This review is important from a
societal perspective because many breastfeeding women require and regularly take medications, especially those
available without prescription, and the safe use of these is dependent on the advice provided by health
professionals, which is ultimately influenced by their knowledge, attitudes and practices. However, there is an
absence of high quality evidence from randomised controlled trials on the safety of medications taken during
breastfeeding, which naturally would hinder health professionals from appropriately advising women. It is equally
important to know about womena??s experiences of advice received from health professionals, and whether there is
consistency between recommendations made across resources on medication safety in breastfeeding, in order to
gain a full understanding of the issues prevalent in this area of practice.
AB - Many breastfeeding women require and regularly take medicines, especially those available over-the-counter, and
the safe use of these is dependent on the advice provided by health professionals such as general practitioners
and pharmacists. The primary aim of this review therefore, was to investigate the literature relating to health
professionalsa?? and womena??s knowledge, attitudes and practices towards medication use and safety in breastfeeding.
The limited literature that was uncovered identified that general practitioners and pharmacists have poor
knowledge, but positive attitudes, and variable practices that are mostly guided by personal experience. They tend
to make decisions about the use of a medicine whilst breastfeeding based on the potential a??riska?? that it poses to
the infant in terms of possible adverse reactions, rather than its a??compatibilitya?? with breast milk. The decisionmaking
process between health professionals and women is usually not a negotiated process, and women are
often asked to stop breastfeeding whilst taking a medicine. Women, in turn, are left dissatisfied with the advice
received, many choosing not to initiate therapy or not to continue breastfeeding. Some directions for future
research have been suggested to address the issues identified in this critical area. This review is important from a
societal perspective because many breastfeeding women require and regularly take medications, especially those
available without prescription, and the safe use of these is dependent on the advice provided by health
professionals, which is ultimately influenced by their knowledge, attitudes and practices. However, there is an
absence of high quality evidence from randomised controlled trials on the safety of medications taken during
breastfeeding, which naturally would hinder health professionals from appropriately advising women. It is equally
important to know about womena??s experiences of advice received from health professionals, and whether there is
consistency between recommendations made across resources on medication safety in breastfeeding, in order to
gain a full understanding of the issues prevalent in this area of practice.
UR - http://www.internationalbreastfeedingjournal.com/content/6/1/11
U2 - 10.1186/1746-4358-6-11
DO - 10.1186/1746-4358-6-11
M3 - Article
SN - 1746-4358
VL - 6
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - International Breastfeeding Journal
JF - International Breastfeeding Journal
IS - 11
ER -