Family Physician

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), women
taking commonly used forms of antidepressant drugs may experience delayed
lactation after giving birth and may need additional support to achieve their
breastfeeding goals.

Breastfeeding benefits both infants and mothers in many ways as breast milk
is easy to digest and contains antibodies that can protect infants from
bacterial and viral infections. The World Health Organization recommends that
infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. This
new study shows that certain common antidepressant drugs may be linked to a
common difficulty experienced by new mothers known as delayed secretory
activation, defined as a delay in the initiation of full milk secretion.

“The breasts are serotonin-regulated glands, meaning the breasts’ ability to
secrete milk at the right time is closely related to the body’s production and
regulation of the hormone serotonin,” said Nelson Horseman, PhD, of the
University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. “Common antidepressant
drugs like fluoxetine, sertraline and paroxetine are known as selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs and while they can affect mood,
emotion and sleep they may also impact serotonin regulation in the breast,
placing new mothers at greater risk of a delay in the establishment of a full
milk supply.”