Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Commonly Used Drugs in Lactating Women and Breastfed Infants

Over half of women in the US who are breastfeeding their infants take prescription drugs. You are being asked to participate in this study because you are breastfeeding your infant and are currently taking, as part of your medical care, at least one of the drugs we are studying. We are interested in studying drugs commonly prescribed to women who are breastfeeding so we can learn more about the amount of drug that is transferred to breastmilk and estimate how much of drug that is consumed by breastfed infants.

The purpose of this study is to understand if the study drugs of interest are found in breastmilk and how much; to estimate the amount of drug that is consumed by breastfed infants and what effect this may have on infants; and to share what we learn with other researchers. The study drugs of interest have Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, but there is little or no information about the amount of drug found in the breastmilk of mothers who take them; the amount of drug that may be transferred to their infant's through breastmilk; or the effects this transfer may have on their infants. During this study we will ask to collect breastmilk and blood from mothers, and blood from infants, to measure the amount of study drug of interest in these body fluids. Results from this study will help researchers better understand how much of the study drug of interest is in your blood and breastmilk, and how much of the study drug of interest may be in your infant's blood because of breastfeeding.