ABSTRACT
The data on drugs in breastfeeding are particularly poor, and there are similarly little data on long-term effects of in utero exposure. A retrospective study of 184 infants with congenital heart disease revealed an increased rate of therapeutic amphetamine use by their mothers during pregnancy, compared to controls. Fetal growth retardation, reduced body weight, prematurity and reduced neonatal head circumference may all be more common in babies born to those who abuse amphetamines. Amphetamine appeared to concentrate in breast milk – on the tenth post-partum day, the concentration in milk was three times higher than that in maternal plasma, and by day 42 it was seven times greater. Information is available on the use of therapeutic doses of testosterone and methyltestosterone, and danazol during human pregnancy. A notable adverse effect of anabolic steroid abuse in women is reduction in breast size – an effect which is often irreversible.
