Reglan Used for Adoptive Nursing
Adopting a baby can be the most fulfilling decision a woman can make; however, the desire to forge an early bond may have some women putting themselves — and their babies — in danger. While it is common knowledge that breastfeeding helps mothers and their babies bond, it seems adoptive mothers hoping for the same opportunity are turning to drugs like Reglan to help them do it.
Reglan is an acid reflux drug that is also used as a means of helping some women with their production of breast milk. This ability has adoptive mothers using the drug to help them create breast milk despite having not carried the baby. According to information from a recent report on the Today show, it is getting more common for adoptive mothers to use a combination of hormonal therapy and prescription drugs like Reglan as a means of stimulating the lactation process so that they can breast feed their babies.
While there is an upside to breast feeding the babies (both nutritionally and psychologically), a good deal of these women aren’t acknowledging the dangers of these drugs that they are using to accomplish these goals. This process works by women using birth control pills to trick their bodies into thinking that they are pregnant. Next, the women start taking drugs like domperidone, or metoclopramide (Reglan), which are both gastrointestinal medications.
These drugs help produce breast milk as a side effect. But it’s not that side effect that has doctors worried — it is the other side effects of Reglan that are a cause for concern. Reglan also causes a condition called tardive dyskinesia, which is characterized by patients developing Parkinson’s-like symptoms. Symptoms of tardive dyskinesia include involuntary movements of the extremities, twitching eyes, lip smacking and grimacing. The condition is permanent, and can be very debilitating. There is currently no news on whether the condition can be transferred to babies through breast milk.
