Is Moclobemide Safe in Breastfeeding

I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Moclobemide? Is Moclobemide safe for nursing mother and child? Does Moclobemide extracts into breast milk? Does Moclobemide has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Moclobemide influence milk supply or can Moclobemide decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?

Excreted into breast milk in a clinically non-significant amount. No clinical untoward effects on the physical and psychomotor development of the infants at both short and long-term basis. Some reports of galactorrhea have been described. Because there is less published experience with this drug than with others, an alternative known to be safer should be preferred mostly during the neonatal period or prematurity.

Moclobemide is not approved for marketing in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but is available in other countries. Limited information indicates that maternal doses of moclobemide up to 900 mg daily produce low levels in milk. Although several breastfed infants apparently experienced no adverse effects during maternal use of moclobemide, no rigorous, long-term data are available. Until more data are available, moclobemide should only be used with careful monitoring during breastfeeding, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.

Nine women were being treated for postpartum depression with moclobemide in daily dosages ranging from 150 mg to 900 mg. All breastfed (extent not stated) their infants during therapy, but the duration of infant exposure to moclobemide in breastmilk was not stated. Maternal reports of infant weight gain, milestones and behavioral effects as well as clinical observation by the authors indicted no adverse effects in the breastfed infants.[2] Four women who took moclobemide in dosages of 300 mg to 1200 mg daily during pregnancy were followed up in the neonatal period and at 1 year postpartum. All women breastfed (extent not stated) their infants. One woman ceased breastfeeding at 2 months postpartum because of severe gastroesophageal reflux in the infant; two other mothers breastfed beyond 12 months. The duration of breastfeeding in the fourth infant was not sated. All infants achieved developmental milestones.[3]

Moclobemide increases serum prolactin in males[4][5][6] and has caused galactorrhea in women.[7] The prolactin level in a mother with established lactation may not affect her ability to breastfeed.