There is great confusion among the scientific community about
whether women who are drug abusers should breast feed their
babies. In order to shed some light on this issue, scientists
from various Spanish hospitals and research centres are
reviewing the methods used to detect substances in breast milk,
their adverse effects, and the recommendations that mothers
should follow in this month's issue of the journal Analytical
and Bioanalytical Chemistry. "The general recommendation is to
totally avoid drug abuse while breastfeeding, because these
substances can pass directly through to the newborn", Óscar
García Algar, co-author of the study and a doctor in the
Paediatrics Department at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona,
tells SINC. The researcher adds: "This recommendation extends to
the prenatal period, because these substances are passed on to
the foetus via the placenta, and then in the postnatal period
via the environment. If they have exposure through the milk,
they will certainly also have had it during th