Passing of Unwanted Substances
Despite the risk of substances transmitting from the mother to the child through breast milk, breastfeeding has far more advantages than infant formulas, and, with few exceptions, the WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life.
The milk-producing cells are most permeable to drugs during the first postpartum week.
Drug characteristics that increase excretion in milk include:
- Not plasma protein binding
- Non-ionized
- Low molecular weight
- Lipid solubility rather than water solubility
- Weakly alkaline rather than weak acid
Drugs are transferred from blood plasma across ductal cells to the milk by diffusion or active transport. The latter may result in higher concentration of the drug in the breast milk than in the plasma of the mother.
The amounts of most drugs in milk do not exceed 2% of the total ingested dose.
Read more about this topic: Breast Milk
Famous quotes containing the words passing of, passing and/or unwanted:
“Fame is no sanctuary from the passing of youth ... suicide is much easier and more acceptable in Hollywood than growing old gracefully.”
—Julie Burchill (b. 1960)
“The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and stanch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
And the musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.”
—Eugene Field (1850–1895)
“It is like any other work of art.
It is and never can be changed.
Behind everything there is always
The unknown unwanted life.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)