Overview of psychotropic breastfeeding data

The recommendations in these guidelines for psychotropic use while breastfeeding are drawn on expert consensus based on evidence of low to moderate quality.

Although there is no reason to suspect that a psychotropic would be ineffective during breastfeeding, there have been no randomised controlled trials, so the effectiveness of psychotropics in this patient group remains unproven. Breastfeeding safety data are limited to observational studies that have significant confounders (eg psychiatric disorder, alcohol and nicotine use) but data quality continues to improve as confounders are more effectively controlled.