October 30, 2003 – St. John’s Wort appears to be safe for breastfeeding women, says one of the very first studies on the issue.
Currently, due to lack of data, nursing mothers and young children are still advised to avoid the product.
However, researchers at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto found1 that St. John’s Wort does not appear to have any negative effects on breastfeeding women or their infants. Thus, by comparing 33 women taking St. John’s Wort to a control group, they found a similar number of children suffering from colic or children described by their mothers as being “lethargic”.
Women taking St. John’s Wort also did not report producing less milk, and taking the supplement did not appear to impact children’s weight in their first year of life.
Analysis of breast milk from a single woman, carried out by other researchers2, had detected only minute traces of St. John’s Wort.
However, it would be premature to conclude that St. John’s Wort is safe for breastfeeding women, due to the small number of women studied.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
From Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; August 2003.
1. Lee A, Minhas R, Matsuda N, Lam M, Ito S. The safety of St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) during breastfeeding. J Clin Psychiatry 2003 Aug; 64 (8): 966-8.
2. Klier CM, Schafer MR, Schmid-Siegel B, Lenz G, Mannel M. St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) – is it safe during breastfeeding? Pharmacopsychiatry 2002 Jan; 35 (1): 29-30.
