Dear Lactnetters:

Given that post-partum depressive states are common in Western culture, the
question of medicinal treatment concurrent with breastfeeding deserves a hard
look at the risks and benefits of various agents, including herbs and
medications.

While the public has at it's disposal a number of books dedicated to St.
John's Wort, more formal scientific information requires a bit of effort on
the part of the lactation specialist.

As with medications, and other questions about chemicals, popular offerings
are not usually detailed enough to evaluate what information is out there.  I
believe the breastfeeding dyad deserve the best information available.

Somewhat apart from more popular press offerings regarding St. John's Wort,
there is this exhaustive review available.  The therapeutic section was
written by Jerry Cott, PhD, Pharmacological Treatment Research Program,
National Institute of Mental Health, and was reviewed by Robert Anton, PhD,
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, U. Strasbourg, France.

American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium. St. John's Wort:
Quality control, analytical and therapeutic monograph. from Herbalgram 40,
1997.

This 32 page document only costs about $5 and will also give you a huge list
of original scientific articles published in recent years:

Contact American Botanical Council 512-331-8868.
http://www.herbalgram.org

Sheila Humphrey  BSc(Botany) RN IBCLC