Milk Matters
Dear Colleague
In the past few months I've fielded several enquiries regarding the possibility of the baby of a lactating mother being affected when she, alone, is prescribed a homoeopathic medicine. The issue is conjectural and confusion abounds; so I have decided to devote this edition of the Newsletter to this clinical situation with a small case ( view here ) demonstrating that it is, indeed, a possibility.
It is common practice in our profession to simply prescribe for the mother when both she and her baby need the same medicine. Giving Arnica following the birth is one such example. Polychrests which may commonly fall into this category of prescribing include Calc-c; Phos; Puls; Sul (to name but a few). Prescribing for both mother and baby is also straightforward when they present with complementary pictures. A common example of this is the Sepia mother and the Nat carb baby.
Care, however, needs to be taken when the mother presents in a state that is inimical to that of the baby. I find that it rarely happens but it's always worth double-checking. Care also needs to be taken when prescribing the mother herbs or herbal teas as they contain alkaloids to which the baby may be sensitive and I've seen a proving response elicited in babies on some occasions.
One interesting case that comes to mind was of a baby being referred for surgery of the rectum for a "growth" that had appeared over a matter of days. On inspection it could be observed that the baby had a constant tenesmus of the rectum and on questioning the mother, it was ascertained that she'd been drinking chamomille tea because she'd heard that it was "calming for babies". The baby's sensitivity was balanced out by instructing the mother to stop the tea; and, with a few doses of Cham 30C, the protrusion disappeared as quickly as it'd come.
I hope that you find what I have to share both interesting and beneficial.
Best wishes
