Breastfeeding is a personal choice, some people do and some people don’t. But should women be offered a drug that can stop it entirely?
The anti-lactation drug – Cabergoline (marketed as Dostinex) is normally prescribed to HIV positive women to prevent passing the virus to their child. The drug suppresses the production of prolactin, the hormone that stimulates milk production in new mothers.
But the drug is now being prescribed for ‘social reasons’ to women who simply don’t want to face letting their breast milk dry up naturally or who find nursing painful.
Administered in two doses over the course of 12 hours the drug takes effect quickly.
The Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life and advises mothers it can continue to benefit the baby ‘for many months after’.
Mothers are told: ‘Every day you breastfeed makes a difference to your baby’s health now and in the future.’
Dr Sam Oddie, a consultant in the neonatal unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary, said he was surprised if women were taking the drug, manufactured as Dostinex by Pfizer, to spare their figure.
He said: ‘I’ve never come across this drug and am sceptical about how widespread it is.
‘But breastfeeding helps women regain their pre-pregnancy figure more quickly and if someone chooses not to breastfeed it is almost always straightforward for them simply not breastfeed without the help of any drug.’
I found breastfeeding very painful but I am glad that I did it. I was very suprised at how quickly I regained my pre-pregnancy weight (give or take a little)!
Producing breast milk is all part of pregnancy. It is a difficult process, but what will be produced next that makes it easier for those women who want to look like nothing ever happened?
