An observation of the effect of sertraline on breast milk supply

Consensus Panel Recommendations for the Pharmacological Management of Breastfeeding Women with Postpartum Depression

INTRODUCTION

Our consensus statement aims to clarify the use of antidepressants and anxiolytics during breastfeeding amidst clinical uncertainty. Despite recent studies, potential harm to breastfed newborns from these medications remains a concern, leading to abrupt discontinuation of necessary treatments or exclusive formula feeding, depriving newborns of benefits from mother's milk.

METHODS

A panel of 16 experts, representing eight scientific societies with a keen interest in postpartum depression, was convened. Utilizing the Nominal Group Technique and following a comprehensive literature review, a consensus statement on the pharmacological treatment of breastfeeding women with depressive disorders was achieved.

RESULTS

Four key research areas were delineated: (1) The imperative to address depressive and anxiety disorders during lactation, pinpointing the risks linked to untreated maternal depression during this period. (2) The evaluation of the cumulative risk of unfavorable infant outcomes associated with exposure to antidepressants or anxiolytics. (3) The long-term impact on infants' cognitive development or behavior due to exposure to these medications during breastfeeding. (4) The assessment of pharmacological interventions for opioid abuse in lactating women diagnosed with depressive disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

The ensuing recommendations were as follows: Recommendation 1: Depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as their pharmacological treatment, are not contraindications for breastfeeding. Recommendation 2: The Panel advocates for the continuation of medication that has demonstrated efficacy during pregnancy. If initiating an antidepressant during breastfeeding is necessary, drugs with a superior safety profile and substantial epidemiological data, such as SSRIs, should be favored and prescribed at the lowest effective dose. Recommendation 3: For the short-term alleviation of anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbances, the Panel determined that benzodiazepines can be administered during breastfeeding. Recommendation 4: The Panel advises against discontinuing opioid abuse treatment during breastfeeding. Recommendation 5: The Panel endorses collaboration among specialists (e.g., psychiatrists, pediatricians, toxicologists), promoting multidisciplinary care whenever feasible. Coordination with the general practitioner is also recommended.

Using sertraline in postpartum and breastfeeding: balancing risks and benefits

INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organization recommends newborns to be breastfed but this may be challenging if the mother needs to be treated for depression, since strong evidence to inform treatment choice is missing.

AREAS COVERED

We provide a critical review of the literature to guide clinicians who are considering sertraline for the management of depression during postpartum.

EXPERT OPINION

Sertraline is one of the safest antidepressants during breastfeeding. In most cases, women already taking sertraline should be advised to breastfeed and continue the medication. We recommend to begin with low doses and to slowly increase the dose up, with careful monitoring of the newborn for adverse effects (irritability, poor feeding, or uneasy sleep, especially if the child was born premature or had low weight at birth). The target dose should be the lowest effective. When feasible, child exposure to the medication may be reduced by avoiding breastfeeding at the time when the antidepressant milk concentration is at its peak. A decision to switch to sertraline from ongoing and effective treatment should be taken only after a scrupulous evaluation of the potential risks and benefits of switching versus continuing the ongoing medication while monitoring the infant carefully.

Sertraline and breastfeeding: review and meta-analysis

We examined the risk-benefit profile of sertraline treatment during breastfeeding, summarized the available literature on sertraline use, presented previously unpublished data, and performed a correlation-based meta-analysis of sertraline serum levels in mother-infant pairs. We conducted a search of PubMed and the National Library of Medicine LactMed database. We performed a meta-analysis to examine correlations between maternal and infant serum sertraline levels in the existing literature and in previously unpublished data. Of 167 available infant sertraline levels, 146 (87.4 %) were below the limit of detection, and the meta-analysis found no significant relationship between maternal and infant sertraline concentrations. Of 150 infant desmethylsertraline levels, 105 (70.0 %) were below the limit of detection. The correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between maternal and infant desmethylsertraline concentrations, but this metabolite has only a fraction of the activity of sertraline. A significant relationship was also found for the sum of sertraline and desmethylsertraline, which stems primarily from the contribution of desmethylsertraline. Sertraline is a first-line drug for breastfeeding women due to documented low levels of exposure in breastfeeding infants and very few adverse events described in case reports. Based on the current literature, neither routine serum sampling nor genotyping is warranted for breastfeeding mothers taking sertraline and/or their infants. Routine pediatric care is appropriate monitoring for breastfed infants of women who take sertraline monotherapy.

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors and breastfeeding: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

The postnatal period represents a critical phase for mothers because of physiological hormonal changes, the increase of emotional reactions and a greater susceptibility for the onset/recrudescence of psychiatric disorders. Despite the evidence of an increasing utilization of antidepressant drugs during breastfeeding, there is still few reliable information on the neonatal safety of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) [serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs)] in nursing mothers. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review on the neonatal safety profile of these drugs during breastfeeding, also assessing the limits of available tools.

METHODS

MEDLINE and PubMed databases were searched without any language restrictions by using the following set of keywords: ((SSRIs OR selective serotonin inhibitor reuptake OR SNRIs OR selective serotonin noradrenaline inhibitor reuptake) AND (breastfeeding OR lactation OR breast milk)). A separate search was also performed for each SSRIs (paroxetine, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram and escitalopram) and SNRIs (venlafaxine and duloxetine).

RESULTS

Sertraline and paroxetine show a better neonatal safety profile during breastfeeding as compared with other SRIs. Less data are available for fluvoxamine, escitalopram and duloxetine. Few studies followed up infants breastfeed for assessing the neurodevelopmental outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Literature review clearly indicates paroxetine and sertraline as the drugs that should be preferred as first line choice in nursing women who need an antidepressant treatment.

Use of contemporary antidepressants during breastfeeding: a proposal for a specific safety index

Despite the well known severe repercussions of maternal depression on infants' well being, women are often reluctant to seek pharmacological treatment for postnatal depression. The fear of adverse events for the suckling infant plays an important role in such maternal considerations. However, the pharmacological approach to mood disorders at postpartum onset often represents one of the most realistic options in a number of clinical conditions. Therefore, the necessity exists to establish the safety of antidepressant treatment in the breastfed infant. For this reason, the aim of this article is to propose a specific safety index that assesses the frequency and degree of severity of adverse events in infants associated with maternal treatment with second-generation antidepressants during puerperium. The index is derived from a simple formula that uses the number of reports of adverse events in infants exposed to antidepressants as the numerator and the combined total of reports of healthy outcomes and reports of adverse events as the denominator. The sum is then multiplied by 100. A value of < or =2 indicates that the drug should be relatively safe for use during breastfeeding, a value of 2.1-10 indicates that the drug should be used with great caution and a value >10 indicates that the drug should be contraindicated in breastfeeding mothers. In addition to the figure created by this calculation, each drug will also be assigned a letter or the combination of a letter and a subscripted number to symbolise, respectively, the type and clinical management of the most serious recorded event. At this early developmental stage of the index, a complete classification of contemporary antidepressants regarding their safety in infants nursed to the breast is unfeasible. Indeed, because of the lack of suitable published data, so far the index has been limited to the evaluation of four antidepressants. In accordance with the index classification for these four antidepressants, sertraline and paroxetine should be considered as first-line medications in women who need to start antidepressant treatment during the postpartum period and wish to continue breastfeeding. The utilisation of fluoxetine and citalopram seems conversely to be associated with a relatively higher risk of adverse events (with a low degree of severity, however). For the other newer antidepressant drugs, the index is still of no assistance to the patient or physician in deciding on the safety of their use in lactation.