Breastfeeding with Crohn's or Ulcer Colitis

I am curious if anyone breastfeed while they were on their meds.  If so, what meds did your doctor recommend and were there any adverse reactions to the baby.

I am currently taking Lialda and my Obyn had asked me to check with my Pediatrician and he said it isn't a good idea, that Lialda could harm the baby while breastfeeding.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I am currently pregnant (35 weeks) and have taken Asacol and Rowasa throughout the entire pregnancy. I also had a four week taper of Prednisone for a flare during the first trimester. I was hoping to breastfeed and did A TON of research on it. I did my own independent research and also consulted my GI, OB, and three Pediatricians. Every single one of them said it was not a good idea to breastfeed on Asacol or Rowasa. The mesalamine is secreted through the breastmilk, and it is ingested by the baby. They all advised against it.

Dr. Hale's book, Medications and Mother's Milk, is a great resource. I was able to get it from my public library, so hopefully, you can do that, too. Dr. Hale has researched many, many medications, and mesalamine is one of them. His research showed that mesalamine is secreted through breastmilk, and there were some babies who had adverse reactions.

All of that being said, I will tell you that there are a ton of different opinions on this topic! There are many women who have breastfed on mesalamine medications, and their babies are perfectly healthy. There are many women who have breastfed on other medications, such as Remicade, and their babies are healthy. Then there are women who breastfed and their babies had problems. And, of course, there are the women who chose not to breastfeed while on their medications.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to conduct your own research and consider everyone's opinions and all of the possibilities. Once you digest all of that, you have to make a decision that you and the father are most comfortable with. For us, we decided not to risk it, so I will not be breastfeeding. That may not be the best decision for you and your baby. Unfortunately, there is not a clear, black and white answer on this issue.

Good luck to you!

I was on Rowasa enemas and BF for an entire year. My 20 month old has no problems. My BFing actually kept me in remission and I didn't even take the enemas every night(I think I was down to twice a week) and only had a flare once I stopped BFing, so that is something to keep in mind. Everyone reacts differently to the hormones(when I was pregnant I had my WORST flare at 6 weeks, got that under control rather quickly, and didn't flare again until I weaned her at 12 months). So..listen to your body and work with your doc to see if you can find a combo of drugs that will also let you BF. Glad this topic came up! I am hoping to try to conceive again next month(assuming my coloncopy goes ok) and want to ask about Asacol which is what I am currently on. Is it ok to get pregnant on it??

So Asacol goes into your milk but not your bloodstream? Just confused why you could be pregnant on it but not BF on it. I always think of more from your body going to your baby while you are pregnant vs. BFing.

*Jen* - I agree... why would Asacol be safe during pregnancy and not safe for breastfeeding? I asked this question, too, and was told that the reason is that Asacol does not cross the placenta. Some drugs may get into your system but are not able to cross the placenta, so they do not reach the baby. My GI, OB and Pediatrician gave me the same explanation.

**NiCoLe** - My GI strongly discouraged getting pregnant during a flare. He said that most women who conceive during a flare tend to stay in the flare throughout the entire pregnancy. Flaring while you are pregnancy can be dangerous to the baby. I took his advice and conceived while in remission.

Careful, it isn't that "most stay in remission if they conceive in remission"...33% get better, 33% flare as they would if they weren't pregnant(if you normally flare you will flare, if not, you won't, and 33% get worse. I got worse. I was in remission and had the worst flare at 6 weeks pregnant.

Well I have mild UC(had only had 2 flares before getting pregnant), was in 100% remission for months, conceived and 6 weeks later was in the most horrible flare of my life. Guess I am not "most". = )

Yup, I'm the 1/3 that got worse! But then, once second trimester hit I got better and stayed better until after I weaned my daughter. I totally agree though, getting pregnant is hard enough on your body. I can't imagine doing it while in a flare, but how hard to plan when it seems you are never NOT in a flare...I would say talk to your doc about that one and figure out how to get your symptoms under control better so you can have a happy conception and pregnancy!