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What Are The Effects Of Use Of Cocaine By Breast Feeding Mother On Baby?

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Posted on Thu, 5 Sep 2013
Question: What are the effects of use of a small amount of cocaine (1 line) on a breastfed baby? How long should the mother wait until she breast feeds again?
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Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (12 days later)
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your question in detail.
Cocaine taken in by the mother has the same effect on the baby as it occurs on the mother as the drug is excreted in milk. Moreover in between interval baby may also go through a cocaine withdrawal which is more troublesome. Further it can cause growth retardation and baby not maintaining adequate weight. It may also effect the long term intellectual capacity of the child. Ones you have taken cocaine you should wait atleast 10 hours for the substance to go off its peak. As such cocaine is present in milk even further to 12 hours. The other practice is to empty the breasts after 10 hours of using cocaine and then let it refill and let the baby have the fresh filled milk.
If you are so cocerned, then the other possibility is to move the baby on formula feed. Its ok if you have a problem of drug abuse.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy

Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Srikanth Reddy

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2770 Questions

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What Are The Effects Of Use Of Cocaine By Breast Feeding Mother On Baby?

Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your question in detail.
Cocaine taken in by the mother has the same effect on the baby as it occurs on the mother as the drug is excreted in milk. Moreover in between interval baby may also go through a cocaine withdrawal which is more troublesome. Further it can cause growth retardation and baby not maintaining adequate weight. It may also effect the long term intellectual capacity of the child. Ones you have taken cocaine you should wait atleast 10 hours for the substance to go off its peak. As such cocaine is present in milk even further to 12 hours. The other practice is to empty the breasts after 10 hours of using cocaine and then let it refill and let the baby have the fresh filled milk.
If you are so cocerned, then the other possibility is to move the baby on formula feed. Its ok if you have a problem of drug abuse.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy

Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.