'mini pill' question

ABarker

So, I went to my 6 week pp office visit and my OB gave me an rx for the minipill (Nora-BE, norethindrone)... and I was reading the leaflet from the pharmacy which says "This drug passes into breast milk and may have undesirable effect on nursing infant."  and then when I googled the main ingredient, I got "Norethindrone can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use if you are breast-feeding a baby."

Ummm, what?  Does anyone know what this means?  What is said undesirable effect?  And why is it understood to be safe for bf'ing mom's, when the leaflet for the drug clearly says otherwise?  

MamaDep

I don't remember which mini-pill I was on but I know there are different kinds. If you are at all concerned about it, I would ask for a different one. I can look around my house to see if I have any of the kind leftover from what i used. We had no negative side effects.

eastbaygirl

That's really weird....I would call my OB for sure.

tiki_t

I wanted to let you know (because it is not documented by the pharmaceutical companies) that there is a small percentage of women who have their milk supply either decreased or stopped all together as a side effect of the mini pill. I know because this happened to me and a lactation specialist confirmed that a lot of women complain about the same side effect.

I'm the type that if 1% is going to get that side effect, I'll probably get it. It would have been nice to have some sort of warning but I didn't get one from my doctor or pharmacist. It sucked to have my supply dry up and have to purchase banked milk at a very high cost.  

Use at your own risk.  

ABarker

awww, cripes!

my doc assured me that my fears of losing or diminishing my supply wasn't going to happen... that it's uncommon, but that's not what I'm hearing from actual lactating individuals.  Grrr.  I told her I'd try it for a month, and if I wasn't happy I wanted to go with the Mirena IUC.

Katie, I'd love to know which pill you were on? 

Pebble_Cafe

That is very strange. I thought the whole idea of prescribing the mini-pill was for bfeeding moms. I don't remember which one I was one but it actually had the opposite effect... increased milk supply. I stopped taking it after three months, though.

So many things have an effect/affect (?) on milk supply I wonder if the worry/anxiety/stress of whether or not your supply will decrease (on the mini-pill) is why it decreases. Just my ramble musing....