Lactation suppression protocols: A narrative review

• Autor(a) principal: Rocha, Maria Margarida Sarreira
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/13573
• topic: Breastfeeding Suspension; Lactation Inhibition Treatments; Lactation Inhibition; Lactation Inhibition Drugs; Lactation Suppression; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Médicas::Ciências da Saúde::Medicina

Introduction: Although the benefits of breastfeeding to the mother and the infant are consensual, there are maternal or neonatal contraindications to breastfeeding or waivers on the mother’s behalf. However, the best method for the inhibition of lactation is still unclear and the strategies for this are not protocolized, making the suppression of this physiological process difficult, time-consuming, and inefficient. Objective: With the present work, it is intended to explore current methods to suppress lactation, review current knowledge on this topic and reach a conclusion on the most appropriate recommendations for these situations. Methods and Materials: This bibliographic review was based on scientific articles published in PubMed, Google Scholar, and SciELO and portals of obstetrics and gynecology's most relevant scientific societies. During the research, the PRISMA guideline was used. Results and Discussion: 21 articles were selected that allowed discussing several points, including the effectiveness of non-pharmacological methods vs pharmacological methods in suppressing lactation, as well as their indications, contraindications, adverse effects and their availability in Portugal and the existence or not of protocols/guidelines to act on the influence of lactation. Conclusion: There are no defined protocols accredited by different societies for lactation suppression. More investments are needed in this area to build up guidelines to be applied to these situations. If these existed, they could provide safer, faster, and better results for both patients and physicians.