advice on medication please

[LeannieB]

Hi my LO is now 3 weeks and i have just been to the doctors as i have mastitis. Doctor prescribed me flucloxacillin for it which contains penicillin. He said it was safe to take while breastfeeding but i just looked it up and it said only take it if you really have to while pregnant or breastfeeding. Now im worried as i dont want to risk harming LO or affecting my milk supply. Hope someone can advise. Thanks in advance x

 

[leash27]

I was prescribed this for an infection in my c section wound. Had tried other antibiotics first but they didn't clear it so had to take these instead. Other than a few more explosive nappies, my LO was absolutely fine.

X

 

[noon_child]

This is from the NHS website "Most penicillins can be used during pregnancy and breastfeeding in the usual doses." but if you look them each up separately (I tried four I could think of), they all say only take it if you really have to after consultation with a doctor.

I think that basically they are saying REMEMBER to tell your doctor that you are breastfeeding just incase you need such a strong dose that it would be harmful to LO. If you mentioned it to your doctor specifically then I'm sure he/she took it in to consideration. However if you are concerned you could call the surgery and ask them to double check and reassure you. I've done this a couple of times when the leaflet inside the medicine didn't match what the doctor told me.

 

[LeannieB]

Thank you. I think i will phone the surgery tomorrow just to be sure. X

 

[Ganton]

I've had mastitis about 8 times across my 2 children. Flucloxacillin was always the first antibiotic they prescribed, and has never caused issues with my babies. The flucloxacillin didn't manage to clear it the last 2 times so I've also had co-amoxiclav and clarithromycin, which also didn't seem to have any adverse affects on my baby.

 

[misspriss]

I think (in my non-medical opinion) when it says "when pregnant or breastfeeding" the biggest risk is pregnancy. A lot more things are safe to take when breastfeeding, but not when pregnant. I would of course consult with your doctor, but that is what I have found in my limited experience.