To : Susan
Re : Compazaine

Unfortunately we have little to no data on most of these phenothiazine
medications, so it is difficult to advise one on their use.  However, there
are a number of variables which include dose, length of use,  age and health
of infant.

Personally, I do not think the amount of Compazine in milk would be
problematic in a normal, perhaps older infant.  However, every Pediatrician
I talk to says the same thing,  the incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms
following Compazine use in infants is horrible, and they would never use
this drug in or around babies.

So for this situation with a 7 month old infant...I really doubt the dose of
Compazine via milk to the infant would be high enough to cause a problem.

Lastly, I would urge all breastfeeding mothers to request
Phenergan(promethazine) instead of Compazine(prochlorperazine).  The use of
phenergan in pediatrics is common.  We all know that in normal doses, it
does not produce extrapyramidal symptoms in babies.  Maybe a little
sedation, but no real problems.

So Phenergan should be the preferred drug for nausea/vomititng in
breastfeeding mothers,  and the older the infant, the less the risk.

Regards

Tom Hale, Ph.D.