The use of prescription medications and non-prescription medications during lactation in a prospective Canadian cohort study

Table 4 10 most common prescription medications used by mothers while breastfeeding at 12 months (n = 1180) compared to non-breastfeeding mothers (n = 1413) with most common reasons for medication use in the CHILD cohort study

	Breastfeeding mothers			Non-breastfeeding mothers
Prescription medication	Reported reason for use*	Mothers who used medication for specified reason		Reported Reason for Use*	Mothers who used medication for specified reason
		%	n		%	n
norethisterone	Contraception	100	48	Contraception	100	28
levothyroxine	Hypothyroidism	97.37	37	Hypothyroidism	94.29	66
domperidone	Lactation Disorder	86.84	33	Lactation disorder	83.33	15
domperidone	Nausea	5.26	2	Lactation disorder	83.33	15
amoxicillin	Infection	18.92	7	Infection	18.92	7
	Ear Infection	16.22	6	Sinusitis	16.22	6
	Sinusitis	10.81	4	Pharyngitis	13.51	5
	Respiratory tract infection	5.41	2	Ear infection	8.11	3
salbutamol	Asthma	89.29	25	Asthma	90.63	29
salbutamol	Common cold	10.71	3	Asthma	90.63	29
citalopram	Depression	69.57	16	Depression	90	27
citalopram	Anxiety	43.48	10	Anxiety	26.67	8
sertraline	Depression	58.82	10	Depression	76.92	10
sertraline	Anxiety	23.53	4	Anxiety	15.38	2
betamethasone	Eczema	71.43	10	Skin rash	28.57	2
betamethasone	Atopic dermatitis	14.29	2	Eczema	28.57	2
antibacterial drug	Pharyngitis	15.38	2	Urinary tract infection	30.77	4
cephalexin	Mastitis	66.67	8	Infection	25	2

* Reason for medication use was ontologized (assigned an ontology/controlled vocabulary with hierarchy)
**The combination of medications used and indication that was only used once was removed from the table
***Indications related to lactation were bolded

ISSN: 1746-4358