Meta-variability of advice on drugs in the breastfeeding mother: the example of β-blockers

Doctors are often asked to express an opinion on the infant safety profile of a drug taken by the breastfeeding mother. Information available in textbooks or on the internet is not always exhaustive. In fact, scientific evidence on medication safety profile during lactation is often lacking, due to difficulties in study design and, probably, limited interest on this issue by pharmaceutical industry. To avoid any litigation on potential side effects to the nursing infant, pharmaceutical companies generally prefer to warn against the use of any drug. As a consequence, …