Is Sodium Phenylacetate and Sodium Benzoate safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what LactMed, the Drugs and Lactation Database published by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports about Sodium Phenylacetate and Sodium Benzoate. The text below is quoted from that source — it is not our own verdict.
Summary of use during breastfeeding
Sodium phenylacetate and sodium benzoate have not been studied in nursing mothers, but sodium phenylacetate and sodium benzoate injection has been used as a treatment for acute hyperammonemia in pediatric patients in the early neonatal period. Predicted milk exposure from sodium benzoate is low. If a mother requires sodium phenylacetate and sodium benzoate, it is not a reason to discontinue breastfeeding.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of sodium benzoate exposure of infants in utero and from breastfeeding during maternal therapy found the predicted 95th percentile of neonatal exposure to be 14% on the first day of life from intrauterine exposure and less than 3% thereafter from breastfeeding.[1]
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Sodium Phenylacetate and Sodium Benzoate is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Sodium Phenylacetate and Sodium Benzoate” (benzoate_phenylacet). LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.