Told to pump and dump for your MRI or CT scan?

Hold your horses flanges, and read this:

Being a new mom is stressful enough without having to go through MRIs and CT scans.  Being told that you need to 'pump and dump' for 24 or even 48 hours, and not nurse your baby for that period of time, makes it much worse. 

A few weeks ago I got a question about this from Tara, a mom who had been given conflicting advice about how long she needed to abstain from breastfeeding after an MRI.  The doctors said 24-48 hours, but the manufacturer of the dye suggested stopping for a much shorter period.

For some time the 24-48 hour 'pump and dump' policy has been the standard advice for mothers who undergo an MRI or CT scan using IV contrast agents.  But a recent study has some hospitals rethinking their policies.

In 2005, a study of radiocontrast agents in pregnancy and lactation concluded that:

Only tiny amounts of iodinated or gadolinium-based contrast medium given to a lactating mother reach the milk, and only a minute proportion entering the baby's gut is absorbed. The very small potential risk associated with absorption of contrast medium may be considered insufficient to warrant stopping breast-feeding for 24 h following either iodinated or gadolinium.

In other words, there is no reason to 'pump and dump' at all in these cases.  This 2001 statement from the American College of Radiology Committee on Drugs and Contrast Media reaches the same conclusion.  For more information on this topic, and also on radioisotopes, barium, bone scans, thyroid scans, gall bladder scans, and x-rays, see this excellent page on kellymom.com.

I know that Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and Stanford Hospital in California have changed their policies on this topic, and I'm sure that there are many others.

If you're being told to pump and dump and want to take this up with your providers, be aware that this issue falls in between the radiology department and your OB/GYN care providers.  It may also involve your pediatrician.  These providers, even at the same hospital, may not have had a chance to talk with each other about this issue.  So expect to need to talk with several people about it before getting the go ahead.  Be sure to print out the policy statement and study I've linked to in this post, and start discussing it early.  And if you're feeling ambitious, see if you can get the issue raised to a level where a policy change can be made for all moms!

Of course, this information is educational and should not substitute for medical advice provided by your physician.  Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed?  Click here.