Is Nitrous Oxide safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Nitrous Oxide. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
A randomized, but nonblinded, study in women undergoing cesarean section compared epidural anesthesia with bupivacaine to general anesthesia with intravenous thiopental 4 mg/kg and succinylcholine 1.5 mg/kg for induction followed by nitrous oxide and isoflurane. The time to the first breastfeed was significantly shorter (107 vs 228 minutes) with the epidural anesthesia than with general anesthesia. This difference was probably caused by the anesthesia's effects on the infant, because the Apgar and neurologic and adaptive scores were significantly lower in the general anesthesia group of infants. It is not known what part nitrous oxide played in this difference in outcome.[ 3 ] A retrospective database study found that primiparous women who receive a nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture for pain during delivery in addition to routine analgesia were more likely to be breastfeeding their infants at 48 hours postpartum than women who did not receive nitrous oxide. This correlation was not found when all women were included in the analysis.[ 4 ] In a nonrandomized, nonblinded retrospective study, 62 women who chose labor with gas analgesia with 50% nitrous oxide and oxygen were compared to a control group of 124 women who did not receive gas analgesia during labor. Most of the women in the study were primiparous. Use of other labor medications was not reported. Women who received nitrous oxide had higher rates of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding than those who did not at 7 days after discharge, at 1 month postpartum, and at 3 months postpartum.[ 5 ] A randomized study compared intravenous meperidine 50 mg to inhaled nitrous oxide for labor analgesia. A higher percentage of mothers receiving nitrous oxide were able to breastfeed immediately after birth (95% vs 88%), but the difference was not statistically significant. There were no differences in breastfeeding rates at 24 hours after delivery or formula use.[ 6 ]
Levels in milk
The serum half-life of nitrous oxide is less than 3 minutes, so extensive passage into milk is unlikely.[ 1 ] Maternal Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date. Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.