Medications, “Natural” Products, and Pharmacovigilance during Breastfeeding A Mixed-Methods Study on Women’s Opinions

Background:In cases of pharmacotherapy, mothers are confronted with the dilemma of breastfeeding and giving up the medication or discontinuing breastfeeding in order to take the drug, thus avoiding any potential risk for the infants.Objective:This study aimed to describe women’s opinions on the use of medications and “natural” products during breastfeeding, pharmacovigilance and phytosurveillance, and the management of breastfeeding.Methods:This was a mixed-methods study with a sequential exploratory design. In the first qualitative phase, we conducted focus groups and in-depth interviews with 25 mothers attending community services. Coding and content analysis were carried out using NVivo9. We identified 4 main categories, and on this basis, we built a questionnaire administered to 248 pregnant women and new mothers attending 2 third-level hospitals. We conducted a descriptive and bivariate analysis (P ≤ .05) using Epi-Info v.7.Results:Women show 3 main attitudes: (1) to discontinue breastfeeding in orde...