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Cohort Study | Opioid use for pain relief after birth appears to pose no significant risk to breastfed infants

23 Mar, 2023 | 13:08h | UTC

Summary: This large study from Canada found that infants born to mothers prescribed opioids after delivery, mainly following a cesarean, are at no greater risk of harm shortly after birth than infants of mothers not prescribed opioids. This suggests that breastfeeding is likely safe for babies whose mothers are taking opioids for pain relief.

The study included 865,691 mother-infant pairs discharged from Ontario hospitals within seven days of delivery between September 2012 and March 2020. Researchers matched mothers who filled an opioid prescription within seven days of discharge to those who did not.

Among the infants admitted to the hospital within 30 days, 2,962 (3.5%) were born to mothers who filled an opioid prescription compared with 3,038 (3.5%) born to mothers who did not, showing that infants of mothers prescribed opioids were no more likely to be admitted to the hospital for any reason. These children were only marginally more likely to visit the emergency department in the subsequent 30 days, and no differences were found for other serious outcomes, including breathing problems or admission to a neonatal intensive care unit, and no infant deaths occurred.

Although the study has some limitations, the high initial breastfeeding rates in Canada (90%) and the consistency of the findings with the fact that millions of new mothers are prescribed opioids after delivery each year provide confidence in the conclusions.

Article: Maternal opioid treatment after delivery and risk of adverse infant outcomes: population based cohort study – The BMJ

Editorial: Opioid analgesia for breastfeeding mothers – The BMJ

News Release: Infants of mothers given opioids after birth are at low risk of harm – BMJ Newsroom

 


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